


Gift of Truth

by kimichi21a, Reiza1022



Category: 2NE1, EXO (Band), iKON (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Different Powers, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Binhwan - Freeform, ChanBaek - Freeform, DARAGON - Freeform, Dark Past, F/M, Fluff and Angst, KaiSoo - Freeform, M/M, Past Violence, SeHo - Freeform, TaoRis - Freeform, World Domination, XiuHan - Freeform, bobhwan, chenxing, triplekim
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:47:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 40,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27084343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimichi21a/pseuds/kimichi21a, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reiza1022/pseuds/Reiza1022
Summary: Co-Written/collab with @SOLO4JINHWAN in TwitterSome people are gifted while some are ordinary.But what if the gift given is something that could give you more than just power but death along its way?When one holds this much power, evil will always find its way to the one who could reign over the world.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Kim Jongin | Kai, Huang Zi Tao | Z.Tao/Wu Yi Fan | Kris, Kim Hanbin | B.I/Kim Jinhwan, Kim Hanbin | B.I/Kim Jinhwan/Kim Jiwon | Bobby, Kim Jinhwan/Kim Jiwon | Bobby, Kim Jongdae | Chen/Zhang Yi Xing | Lay, Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Oh Sehun, Kim Minseok | Xiumin/Lu Han, Kwon Jiyong | G-Dragon/Park Sandara | Dara
Kudos: 8





	1. Who we were

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!  
> We decided to post this story here in Ao3 as well.  
> Hope you guys like it!

~~Present Time~~

"How can you guys be so calm about this? Jinhwan was kidnapped, and we don't even know who did it!?" Hanbin landed his fist on the building wall where they were hiding. Anger infused in his eyes as he glared at everything and everyone.

"But getting so worked up will not help us either, hyung." Donghyuk answered.

“We need to get to him!” Hanbin complained, hardly controlling anything at this point. “Donghyuk, why don’t you use that mind thing you do?? Can’t you find Jinan?!”

Donghyuk looked at him with a glare, he was already doing his best, but at best, he could only search a radius of 10km around him. He gritted his teeth and suppressed the irritation that was boiling inside him.

“And you, Bobby! How can you be so quiet and still after claiming you love Jinhwan, huh!? Are you all talk?" Hanbin lashed out, which didn't sit well with Bobby.

“Will you shut the fuck up?! All of us are trying our best to look for Jinhwan! How about you shut your pretty little mouth and just sit back like the prince you are.” Bobby said, glaring at Hanbin with his hair slowly getting lighter. The dark blue strands that sat on top of his hair now turned a lighter color of blue, signaling his anger slowly rising.

“Why don’t you try something with your fire?! Among all of us, you’re the most useless one right now with that destructive power of yours! At least we’re all trying to look for him while you’re just there, mouthing off like an idiot. I guess fire ain’t so powerful after all.” Bobby gnarled at Hanbin, covering Donghyuk, who was trying to concentrate and look for Jinhwan.

“Calm down, you guys. We won’t get anywhere if we don’t work together.” Yunhyeong said, wary of Chanwoo’s mood and making sure to check up on him now and then.

Chanwoo flinched when he noticed Hanbin’s hair turning bright red. He’s concealing them with his darkness, but with disruption from Hanbin’s fire, it won’t even take a minute before they’re all discovered.

Sparks started showing up at Hanbin’s fingertips, and the bright red color slowly spread through his black hair. Just as his anger started reaching its limits, he remembered what Jinhwan told him.

_"Red is such a beautiful color, don't you think? Passion. Bravery. It brings life excitement. So please don't use it to hurt. Specials are much more than a being, a commodity to kill. You’re better than that. I can't wait to see your fiery glow." Jinhwan said with a bright smile on his face. He never once was afraid of Hanbin. Even with his fire engulfing everything around him, Jinhwan was the only one who didn’t look at him with those kinds of eyes._

Hanbin landed a punch on the wall before turning his back on everyone.

‘I’ll save you, Jinan.’

~~~[Flashback to 12 years ago]~~~

"NO!!! Get away from me! I can kill you! I can burn you! I burned them! Hanbyul-ah!!! Omma!!!!" Hanbin cried. Trying his best to move away from the figure that was walking towards him. Visions of what happened flashed in mind.

“Hanbin!! Hanbin!!” His mother called out before stepping in front of him as his hands were engulfed in flames. Hanbin looked at his eyes before looking back at his mother. Confusion filled him, and worry ate at him.

“O-omma... Omma!!” Hanbin called out in a panic. “Omma! What’s happening to me?! Omma!!”

Tears fell from his eyes as he saw the fear filling his mother’s eyes. His sister looked at him with crying eyes before saying, “Oppa... y-you’re a monster!”

Hanbin pushed himself off on his feet, intending to run away from the figure that was slowly closing in on him.

“I’m a monster! Go away! YOU’LL DIE!!!”

Hanbin screamed, running away. And just as he did, he saw his hands create that same flame from before. His heart hammered in his chest, screaming, “No!” repeatedly. His eyes widened when he saw his surroundings were engulfed in fire, and everything was already burning.

“No! NO!!” Hanbin begged, but the fire grew stronger as strands of his hair turned bright red. He fell on his knees, tears on his eyes and pain in his heart.

‘I did this... I’m a monster.’ Hanbin whispered in his thoughts. Repeatedly blaming himself and calling himself a monster.

He covered his face with his hands, wishing to burn himself with the fire on it but to no avail. He was the only one unhurt with the destructive force of his own element.

"Why are you crying? Are you hurt?" Hanbin looked up in shock. How could someone get near him without turning into ashes? He saw an angel with bright lavender colored eyes, kneeling in front of him with eyes full of worry. He could barely make everything out, he thought he might already be dead at this point, and he could finally rest.

“A-am I dead...?” Hanbin whispered with tear-stained eyes, but the angel in front of him giggled into a smile. The angel’s bright purple hair bounced as he shook his head to answer. “No, you’re not dead.”

“But if I’m not dead... You... Why aren’t you burning?" Hanbin asked, confusion filling him.

“Of course not, silly! How will I get burned? You can never hurt me...” the angel said, smiling at Hanbin. “A-are you an angel then?”

“A-angels? No! I... I... I’m not...” The boy answered, trying to hide the blush that formed on his cheeks. It wasn’t the first time he got called an angel, and he couldn’t help but blush about it. He glanced just behind Hanbin before looking away again.

Hanbin furrowed his forehead before realizing that the flames around him had disappeared. He looked around and noticed someone else standing at a distance. “What... what happened?”

"Hmmm. It's somewhat hard to explain. Why don't you come with us and I'll ask my dad to explain it to you? What do you say?" the boy said, smiling at Hanbin.

"We?" He asked, remembering the other guy standing away from him.

"Yes! We! Oh! By the way, I'm Jinhwan, a non-power user. And that grumpy guy over there, his name is Bobby. He’s... well... I hope you two get along!” Jinhwan giggled. Hanbin felt his heart pound at his chest when he saw Jinhwan giggling. Something about that just made him feel comfortable.

“M-my... My name's Hanbin...” Hanbin said, looking down with a blush on his face.

“So... let’s go?” Jinhwan offered, standing up and offering a hand to Hanbin.

Hanbin reached for his hand, not knowing that it was starting a new journey in his life.

\--- 

The travel was long, and Hanbin hadn’t felt this anxious in a while. Seated in between Jinhwan, the boy he thought was an angel, and Bobby, who he doesn’t know much about yet, was getting jittery about being confined in a small space. He felt his insides twirling around, afraid he’d ignite another sea of flames. He held his hands tightly together, praying that he won’t kill the people inside the car.

It might have been the way Hanbin was scrunching his face or the way his hands turned pale while holding it tightly together that Jinhwan felt the need to help. He gently placed his hand on top of Hanbin’s before smiling at the younger. Hanbin felt that same comforting feeling surrounding him again as if nothing could go wrong with Jinhwan by his side. He soon loosened his fingers and took Jinhwan’s hand to intertwine their fingers together. The feeling of Jinhwan’s hand against his felt so comforting that Hanbin could feel the uneasiness starting to disappear.

Just as he was getting comfortable, he felt something cold to his other side. He furrowed his brows before glancing at Bobby, but the latter had his hoodie on, and he couldn’t really make out what face he had on.

“Is something wrong?” Jinhwan asked, looking at Hanbin. Hanbin looked back at Jinhwan before furrowing his forehead, ‘brown?’ Hanbin thought as he saw a glimpse of Jinhwan’s eyes. Jinhwan raised his brows, waiting for a reply, but Hanbin shook his head before looking down at their intertwined hands, and without noticing it, a smile left his lips.

The moment the car came to a halt, Hanbin noticed that Jinhwan looked even more delighted.

“We’re here!” Jinhwan chirped before opening the door. The moment they went down, Hanbin looked up at the house in the middle of the woods. He was quite skeptical at first but thinking about it thoroughly; they needed to live in a hidden place away from civilization. Trees surrounded the area, and the house had three levels to it. It looked like a mansion from his perspective, but there was a lurking feeling at the tip of his stomach that still scared him to enter places that constrict him. He feels like he’ll suffocate sooner or later.

“Let’s go! I can't wait for everyone to meet you!” Jinhwan said, a bright smile filling his face before offering a hand to Hanbin. Hanbin swallowed the lump in his throat before reaching out. The warm hand that held him was something he liked, and more than anything, he knows he’ll likely treasure from now on.

“We’re home!!” Jinhwan announced the moment he slammed the doors open. Several voices from inside the house greeted him with “welcome back!”

“Oh! You’re back! You’re back!” Chirped another boy jumping towards Jinhwan before hugging him. “You’re back hyung! How was your trip? You’re back!”

“I’m back!” Jinhwan giggled before patting the younger’s head. “This is Donghyuk. He’s like you. Someone who has a Gift.”

“Oh, is he the one you had to fetch?” Donghyuk asked, and Jinhwan nodded. The young boy had fluffy pink hair with a smile that resembled the sun. His cheery attitude was somehow scaring Hanbin. He wasn’t sure how to approach people like him. He resembled Hanbyul too much that it made him shiver. When Donghyuk was about to give him a welcoming hug, he took a step back and bumped into someone. Hanbin looked back and saw Bobby looking at him. He immediately apologized, but the latter just looked away without uttering a word.

Donghyuk looked back at Jinhwan, eyes sad after getting rejected by Hanbin, but the other just patted his head before looking at Hanbin.

“Hanbin, let me introduce you to the others.”

The living room was as loud as ever. Kids on the couches playing video games while shrieks and laughter filled the air. Hanbin looked silently while the others were having fun. Makes him remember the times he played with his—

“Oh! You found a new one!” A blonde kid said, immediately standing up to head over and inspect Hanbin.

“Yunhyeong!” The blonde kid said, reaching out his hand to offer a handshake. “What’s your name?”

“H-Hanbin...” Hanbin answered but wary about holding Yunhyeong’s hand. He didn’t want to burn him nor injure anyone in the place.

“Oh, I forgot to mention... The house is surrounded by neutralizing crystals, which helps your powers stay in an inactive state. So... you should be safe to hold people’s hands.” Jinhwan said, offering his hand to Hanbin. The latter reached out again, holding Jinhwan’s hand before looking at Yunhyeong’s. He wasn’t sure why but the thought of holding someone else’s hand was so foreign to him that he couldn’t pull himself to hold others aside from Jinhwan.

It wasn’t long before he heard someone click his tongue. Hanbin looked back and saw Bobby looking away, his hoodie mostly covered his face, so Hanbin wasn’t sure if Bobby was mad or if he’s just normally like that.

“W-well... I guess it’s hard to adjust right away. A-anyway, this is my brother, Chanwoo...” Yunhyeong explained, patting Chanwoo’s shoulders. The child was busy playing with his game console that he didn’t bother to spare Hanbin a glance. Yunhyeong ruffled his jet black hair before smiling back at Hanbin.

“It’s nice to meet you. It’s not every day we find someone new, so... it’s great to have you in the family.” Yunhyeong stated.

“Oh, man! Another loss!” Junhoe, the kid with the brown hair, complained before resigning back on the couch and grumbling strange noises. Yunhyeong shook his head while looking at the younger, “That, right there, is Junhoe.”

“They’re all gifted like you, Hanbin. I hope you all get along.” Jinhwan said while holding his hand. Hanbin slowly nodded his head at Jinhwan.

Bobby passed and stopped just beside Jinhwan and Donghyuk. He went in front of Jinhwan before grabbing the other’s hand from Hanbin’s and looking at it as if looking for something. He passed his palm over Jinhwan’s before releasing it and heading over beside Junhoe to play a game.

“Bob-hyung is too much sometimes.” Donghyuk mumbled before tiptoeing to Jinhwan’s ear and whispering, “Bob-hyung coated your hand with a layer of his ice.” Jinhwan sighed, looking back at Bobby. Donghyuk looked back at Hanbin, “Don’t worry about Bob-hyung, he’s nice. Especially when Jinhwan-hyung is here!”

“Oh! Let me get you something to drink. My parents might be busy. I’d like you to have something while waiting. I’ll be right back!” Jinhwan said before turning around and heading off to the kitchen, leaving Hanbin in the capable hands of Yunhyeong.

Hanbin felt vulnerable the moment Jinhwan left. The gazes around him were terrifying, and he wasn’t sure if it was really ok for him to stay there. He was a stranger in a house where they treated each other as a family. He felt his insides tremble at the thought that he might harm them too.

“Hey, why don't you take a seat? You don't look so good.” Yunhyeong said, furrowed brows and worried eyes looked over Hanbin. Hanbin tried to even out his breathing. He knows that nothing good comes out of feeling anxious, but he couldn't help it.

“What’s wrong with him...?” Hanbin heard another voice asked before noticing a pair of feet walking towards him.

“It’s the surrounding... He’s been out for too long.” Donghyuk said, holding on to the hem of Chanwoo’s shirt. Chanwoo, who had finally finished his game, came to greet Hanbin, but he noticed how the latter turned pale. Yunhyeong stood by him, and for some reason, he wondered why the new guy just felt off.

“So this is the new guy?? He doesn’t look much.” Junhoe’s voice suddenly boomed around the room, which earned him confused gazes from the others. Hanbin, on the other hand, lowered his head to look down on the ground. The kid looked over from the couch while Bobby played on the game console beside him.

“Didn’t he have the gift of fire? I thought he’d at least be... you know... scary?” Junhoe added. This time Yunhyeong clicked his tongue to tell Junhoe off. The younger just scoffed before looking back at Hanbin.

“He doesn’t feel too powerful. Is he really gifted?” Junhoe asked again, seemingly provoking Hanbin.

Hanbin felt his stomach flipping inside. He was already a nervous wreck, and with the continuous words coming from Junhoe, he felt his insides forcing him to throw up.

“Stop it, Junhoe. The kid’s still new, don’t provoke anything.” Yunhyeong warned, stepping near Junhoe, who still didn't stop.

“Well, he looks useless to me,” Junhoe said, turning back to the tv and watching the game.

Hanbin panted, memories flashing in his mind. He held his hands together, trying to push away the feeling of fear that was climbing from the bottom of his gut.

_“Why can’t you be more like your sister! Even at a young age, she can already do better than you!” Hanbin’s father shouted as he looked down on the ground with his cheek burning in pain. He gritted his teeth to prepare for impact again. He knew his father. One slap wasn’t enough to ease his anger. The pain of his father's slaps were nothing compared to the pain his words delivered._

_“You’re too useless! Why were you even born?!”_

Hanbin shut his eyes, praying that his flames wouldn't engulf the place and harm the people in it. He could barely hear someone talking to him, but he was too focused on trying to control his emotions that he didn't even notice Jinhwan coming back into the room.

Jinhwan came back, a tray on his hands and news from his parents.

“Sorry for taking a while. My parents said they’ll just finish something and will be here shortly. I hope the others were nice to you, Hanbin.” Jinhwan said, setting down the tray on the table and looking over his shoulder to see Yunhyeong reprimanding Junhoe yet again. He just chuckled. It was a normal occurrence by now that he didn’t notice that something was completely off.

Jinhwan picked up the cup and the saucer to hand over to Hanbin when he noticed the latter trembling on his seat.

“Hanbin?”

Jinhwan called out, but the moment their eyes met, Hanbin gasped when he saw flames come out of his arms with Jinhwan a step away from him. The moment Jinhwan saw the flames, he took a step back, but with the sudden movement, he mistook his step and fell on the floor along with the saucer and the cup. The hot water spilling on his arm and burning him.

“Jinhwan-hyung!” Donghyuk called out, which earned everyone’s attention. The moment Bobby heard Jinhwan’s name, he immediately turned and jumped over the couch to get to Jinhwan. He pulled Jinhwan’s arm and immediately passed his hand over the other’s arm to help with the burn and ice over it.

“Are you alright...?” Bobby asked, worry laced into his voice.

“Y-yeah... yeah, I’m ok. Is Hanbin...?”

Jinhwan asked, but Bobby gritted his teeth before turning to Hanbin. The latter looked horrified to see Jinhwan getting burned, blaming himself for what happened. Rage filled Bobby when he thought that Hanbin burned Jinhwan.

Bobby immediately grabbed Hanbin’s shirt and pulled him closer. Gritted teeth and eyes turning into an icy blue.

Hanbin didn't realize it at first, but he saw his clothing turn to ice just as Bobby held on to him.

‘Ice..?!’


	2. Haunting Past

"Ice!?" Hanbin gasped.

"Oh, boy! This does not look good..." Chanwoo playfully commented as he made eye contact with his twin. Yunhyeong, who understood what his twin wanted to happen, wanted to make his way to the furious Bobby but only to realize that their feet were actually frozen to the ground. He clicked his tongue before commanding Bobby.

"BOBBY KIM!!!!!" Yunhyeong shouted. "Release Chanwoo and I, this instance!!!!"

"No one interferes." Bobby angrily stated, a growl apparent in his voice. "I need to teach this bastard a lesson. No one hurts Jinhwan... EVER!" Bobby bared his teeth, gritted, and full of rage.

"W-w-what!? I-i-i-i didn’t hurt Jinhwan..." Hanbin objected. However, he’s also unconvinced that it wasn’t he who actually hurt Jinhwan. He saw his body slowly rereleasing fire. His emotions running wild due to his uncertainty. His eyes landed on Jinhwan. He saw how it surprised him again. His eyes traveled to look at the boy’s arm, which is still being mended by Donghyuk, who was trying his best.

"I-i-i would never do that intentionally," he added as he looked down, feeling guilt slowly creeping into his head just as the flames started surrounding his body.

"So, are we just seeing things Hanbin-shi? HUH! That’s an obvious burn mark on Jinhwan’s arm! Tell me that’s not from you?!” Bobby demanded, gritted teeth with icy cold air fighting Hanbin’s flames.

"No!!! I didn’t mean it. It was an accident..." Hanbin whispered as he again looked at his angel. How can he hurt someone who was the first person to accept him? He truly was a monster.

"EYES HERE stupid! You know what I do to people who try to hurt my Jinhwan?" Bobby asked as his eyes changed into a bright icy blue color, and the ice on Hanbn's shirt slowly crawled and consumed more of his clothing.

Just as the entire shirt had been swallowed by ice, someone appeared in front of Bobby and held his hand gripping onto Hanbin.

"Bobby Kim! Release the boy this instance." a petite but muscular man said as he tried to pull Bobby's hand away but to no avail. Bobby is persistent. He kept holding on to Hanbin's shirt and even tightens his grip when the others tried to intervene.

"Don't get involved, Suho hyung." Bobby growled. “You aren’t a part of this!”

"You do know you already triggered the crystal, too, right? So if I were you, stop this right now before the Dragon gets here." Suho explained, trying his best to pull Bobby away from Hanbin.

Despite this warning, Bobby still insisted, and just as he was about to swing his arm to punch Hanbin, he suddenly stopped midway before he could land a hit. There, in front of Hanbin, is Jinhwan with his arms spread as wide as it can get. He shielded Hanbin from Bobby’s furious attack, which did not sit well with the other.

"Jiwoooon. Please don't do it! Jebal!" Jinhwan pleaded as he looked at Bobby with his glassy brown eyes.

But Bobby is persistent as ever, gripping on the shirt as tight as he can. He looks at Jinhwan before shifting his gaze to Hanbin.

"Please, Jiwonnie! For me… hmmmmm." Jinhwan begged once again, but this time, he put his hands over the older's clenched hands and slowly pulled it away from Hanbin. The rage that consumed Bobby moments ago melted into a warm puddle of concern. He sighed before concentrating on Jinhwan, who was begging him with eyes that were just like a puppy’s.

"Let's go inside. Help me with my burn… please?" the younger asked as he showed his best puppy face that he was sure the older man couldn't resist.

"Fine!" Bobby gave up as he pulled Jinhwan's hand out of the room. But just before going, Bobby spoke. "You are one lucky bastard. But next time you do it, I can't assure you will be."

\---

"You know, I don’t usually leave anyone who hurt my precious Jinani alive. Maybe dead or badly hurt. I guess it’s just something that’s in my nature to protect those who are important to me." The older man called Dragon said as he made his way to his minibar. There was a heavy and dangerous chill from his voice, and Hanbin knew it was meant as a threat.

After the battle that almost happened between Hanbin and Bobby, some of the older Gifted residents of the manor showed up, including the person talking to Hanbin. And from the looks of it, he's regarded with utmost respect.

"Maybe I should let Bobby punch you right now for burning my baby's arm."

"I-I didn't do anything to Jinhwan. It was all an accident! I swear. I…" Hanbin frantically explained.

"Arra. That's why you are still in front of me. Unharmed." Dragon scoffed but not without a tinge of darkness laced in his words. "But as Jinhwan and my wife said, you are harmless, so you’re forgiven… for now," he continued.

The Dragon then offered Hanbin water and sat adjacent to Hanbin.

"But then again Hanbin-shi, this place has rules. And you already broke one of them on your first day. Using your powers excessively without supervision of the older Gifted is strictly prohibited. The stupid fight you had with Bobby triggered the neutralizing crystal. Consider this as your first warning." he said with full authority. “No, consider this as your only warning regarding this issue.”

"S-sorry. But I'll have you know. I didn’t start it on purpose. It’s just…I-I don't know... everything suddenly went out of my control. And I don’t know what happened… And Jinhwan was near. And…." Hanbin defended himself, unsure what to explain to the Dragon.

"I know, kiddo. I saw everything. I have an extraordinary Gift, so I know what happens in my space. No need to explain to me, understand? For now, we need to get your gift under control. So starting tomorrow, you will be training with Park Chanyeol. He also has the Gift of fire. He can teach you a thing or two." Dragon explained. "But for now, I'll ask Suho to guide you around." 

Hanbin bowed to the elder and went on his way, but Dragon added something more before he could leave.

"By the way, call me GD." smiled the elderly and showed his gummy smile. " And welcome to your new home."

\---

On the other side of the manor, Bobby busied himself, tending to Jinhwan's burned arm. None of them are talking, and tension hasn't really left.

"I don't like what you did there, Jiwon. That was mean. Hanbin didn't mean to hurt me," pouted Jinhwan, he was obviously trying to appease the older by acting cute, and he knows it’s working with the way Bobby looked away.

"Well, you're still hurt, and no one can hurt you as long as I'm alive."

Their eyes met, and an apparent blush appeared on JInhwan’s cheeks just when he smiled.

"I know that because Jiwonie will protect me, right? But you know, Hanbin is not a bad guy. I know it… No… I’m sure of it."

Jinhwan proudly said as he looked at Bobby with his eyes that contained pure pride. So all Bobby can do is sigh and concede. He really doesn't like Jinhwan being sad or disappointed in him. He just can't.

"Fine. I'll apologize. But he better learn to control his Gift quickly before he can hurt anyone else again. Especially you."

"Yehey! I know I can always count on you!!!!! Thank you, my Jiwonnie! I love you!" Jinhwan shouted childishly, immediately hugging Bobby tightly.

"Yeah. Yeah. I love you too!" Bobby replied just before Jinhwan smiled at him to bounce away. 

"More than you know of," he whispered as soon as Jinhwan left the room to check on Hanbin. This did not sit well with Bobby, of course, but who was he to argue.

"Wow! You're really whipped for Jinan. You’re ready to throw a blizzard when one of us calls you Jiwon, but you turn into a big marshmallow when Jinan does." Yunhyeong stated, arms crossed and voice filled with teasing. Bobby rolled his eyes, gritting his teeth to fight the urge to turn them into ice sculptures.

"That’s true! Remember when he almost punched Junhoe when he called him Jiwon. That poor guy! The horror on his face!" The other twin added the mocking tone was even more apparent on this one. There was giggling that followed, and Bobby sighed before glaring at them.

"Will you two shut up and go back to your training?" 

"But, I was told to fetch you and bring you to Dragon." 

"And I came along ‘cause I'm bored."

"You two are hopeless."

"Right! Like your love for Jinan?"

"You better move fast. It looks like you have some competition." Chanwoo said as he pointed the attention of the other two to the scene in the living room.

Down in the living room is a smiley Jinhwan holding on to the hands of a blushing Hanbin. To say Bobby hated the view is an understatement. He is jealous beyond belief and seething in anger, but he knows it will only hurt Jinhwan if he does anything reckless. So he just sighed to keep his cool and walk away.

"Awwww! You're walking away!!!! Not even gonna throw a snowball!" pouted Chanwoo.

"Stop it. Don’t push your luck. I'm not doing it! Jinan wouldn't like it. Besides, the Dragon is looking for me, right." Bobby said, void of any emotions.

"Nah! Just wanna tell you, so you won’t kill us if I point out that Binhwan moment to you."

“Binhwan?”

“You know… Bin as in Hanbin and Hwan as in Jinhwan? Binhwan!”

Bobby released an icy breath, enough to drop the room’s temperature, which made the twins take a step back.

"Sorry, Bob, but Suho hyung definitely wants to talk to you."

Bobby inhaled deeply to calm himself. Sometimes the twins can be a handful. If only he could just freeze their mouths and shut them up for good.

Chanwoo and Yunhyeong immediately covered their mouths as if there was something there. A shiver running down their spine when Bobby looked at their hands over their mouth.

"And by the way, stop freezing our mouths in your head! You know it won't work. Well, Not long enough cause for sure, Jinhwan will ask you to unfreeze us." Chanwoo teased, grinning boyishly at Bobby before putting back his hand over his mouth.

"You two are lucky idiots then. Pretty much like that, Hanbin." Bobby said as he looked for Suho only to be stopped again but this time, by his angel.

"Jiwonie!!! Look who I found! Hanbinnie!" Jinhwan excitedly said, but on the contrary, Bobby does not look anywhere near excited at all. 

'Hanbinnie, huh' Bobby thought, feeling a bit off with the endearment of the younger to Hanbin, but since this is Jinhwan, Bobby gave a small forced smile.

Bobby's eyes then went straight to Jinhwan's hands wrapped around Hanbin's arm, and again, it did things to his heart that he didn’t really like.

Hanbin, who noticed the other’s stare, decided to break the silence between them.

"Bobby-shi, I'm… I’m sorry for what happened earlier. I swear it was never my intention to hurt Jinhwan, and never will I want to hurt him." 

"Arra. I'd like to apologize as well.” Bobby said, an evident sarcasm speed through his speech. “What I did was uncalled for, especially using my Gift to someone like you. My temper just got the best of me. But I’ll keep my warning, don’t hurt Jinhwan."

Hanbin nodded immediately at the threat. He was sure that Bobby held Jinhwan with high regard, and if he were asked, he’d say the same thing. Jinhwan is important to him just as he might be for Bobby.

"Sooooooooo, good now? Both of you are friends and all? No more fighting?" Jinhwan jumped in the middle of the two looking at both men with a wide grin on his face and a sparkle in his brown eyes before hugging both of their arms.

It almost broke the two men's facade as they can't help but be drawn to the person in front of them. All smiles and oh so bright. Their trance was only broken when the youngest of them spoke again.

"You see, Hanbinnie? My Jiwonie is not scary at all." Jinhwan said with obvious pride, making Bobby chuckle with Jinhwan's silliness and ruffle the younger's hair. 

"Jiwonie?" Hanbin asked, looking at Bobby.

"You're not allowed to call me that," Bobby whispered dangerously as he glared at Hanbin.

Hanbin, who heard it, immediately gasped and swallowed the lump in his throat before raising his hand in surrender as he again felt the cold air surrounding them.

Just then, Bobby felt something coming in their direction, and by instinct, Bobby stood in front of Jinhwan and produced an ice wall. At the same time, Hanbin unconsciously surrounds himself and Jinhwan with balls of fire.

Triggered, both men looked at the culprit or rather - culprits who attempted to hurt the younger. 

"Told you so, Sehun hyung. Bobby has a new love rival." Junhoe informed the newcomer. 

"Heh! And for someone who's still not in control of his power, those fireballs are amazing," smirked Sehun.

"Seriously, guys. Why did you do that?" growled both men at the same time. 

"And they speak at the same time as well! Cool! Let's look for someone else to bother Juneya. I'm not in the mood to have myself iced… or burned!"

Astonished with the behavior, Hanbin directed his attention to Bobby as if questioning what is happening.

"It's their usual antics. But they never targeted Jinhwan. Junhoe is a brat who goes to his trainer." Bobby explained, still glaring at the two who wildly appeared like pokemon trying to attack.

Hanbin just nodded, understanding what Bobby just told him. Just then, he realized that he is still hugging a now heavily red Jinhwan. Hanbin panicked, and sparks of fire started to show. He backed up. Afraid to once again hurt Jinhwan. 

Bobby, already on guard, noticed what just happened. Ice slowly covered his hands as he approached Hanbin to get Jinhwan, who is still too close to Hanbin. Jinhwan went close to Hanbin, trying to make him relaxed. 

"Yah!!!! Stupid!!!! Relax, will you!!! You're on fire!" Bobby tried to negotiate with Hanbin; however, his own Gift is spilling out of his control.

"Jinani, come here!!!! Now!!!" Bobby ordered the younger, but he just stopped Bobby from getting him and insisted on approaching Hanbin.

"Hanbinnie. Look at me, ok? Relax. Nothing's going to happen. Jiwon and I can help you," Jinhwan said, but as soon as he looked at Bobby, he saw how the other was also struggling. Taming his gift from losing it.

With both men slowly losing their control over their powers, Jinhwan held both of their hands before pulling it near his heart. 

"You will not hurt me. I promised... you will never hurt me, ever. I'll always help you." Jinhwan chanted as his eyes glowed like a bright purple gem.

EXO, already in the area, ready to lock down the two were stopped by Dragon.

"Don't. It's already ok." And as soon as the trainers looked at the 3 boys, the chaos disappeared, and as if nothing happened. The only thing that made them realize it did was a passed out Jinhwan cradled by two very promising trainees.

"It's time."


	3. Chapter 3

The Dragon smirked while looking back at the others. He motioned at the others before snapping his fingers, and in that instance, Jinhwan disappeared from the arms of Bobby and Hanbin. Hanbin freaked out, but Bobby, knowing the Dragon’s mysterious Gift, looked around to look for the manor's head. The moment they made eye contact, the Dragon nodded at him, and he gave out a sigh of relief.

“J-Jinhwan’s missing! W-what happened?” Hanbin asked, panic evident in his voice and fear crawling out of his veins.

“Don’t worry. The Dragon’s got Jinhwan.” Bobby answered before looking back at Hanbin. He saw Suho appear just beside Hanbin before shaking his head. “You--”

“I should show you to your room as well, Hanbin. I’m sure you’re quite exhausted. You’ve got quite a morning tomorrow. You’ll need all the rest you can get.” Suho said, smiling at Hanbin, who was still jittery about losing Jinhwan.

“At least let me talk. The twins said you were looking for me.” Bobby said, looking at Suho. The older man just shrugged his shoulders before smirking at Bobby. The younger understood what it meant before looking back at where the Dragon was, but he was already gone. Bobby clicked his tongue before turning on his heel to head out.

“But… It's midday… why do I need to…?” Hanbin asked, unable to focus due to his worries.

“When was the last time you properly rested?” Suho asked him.

Hanbin opened his mouth to answer, but he couldn’t give a proper one. When was the last time he ever rested well? He was unsure, and he didn’t even know. He’s been out too long that he didn’t even have a proper notion of time and date anymore. He’s surprised he’s still alive even after days of staying out in the open. He sighed before seeing Suho smile at him.

“Don’t worry… You’re not the only one who we found like that. There’s a lot of Gifted who end up outside. We try our best to look for them and help but. With the Dragon’s help, we’ve managed to help tons of kids who are now part of society. Most of the Gifted kids here have rare ones; that’s why we’re… hidden. Away from civilization and away from possible danger.” Suho explained as he led the way to Hanbin’s room. The manor had a huge hallway with doors and doors. But what confused Hanbin is that when Suho opened some doors, it only contained stairs, and some led to another hallway. It was like a whole maze inside the manor.

“W-wait… Rare? And… And why is this place suddenly like a maze?” Hanbin asked, trying his best not to be left behind by Suho’s fast pace.

“Well… No one likes to share where they sleep. Our rooms are our sacred place… it’s where you’re supposed to be able to relax, right? So the place becomes a maze when you try to go to a place you’re not allowed to. In your case… it’s acting up because you’re new here, I think. Unless we get you your own room, it’ll keep doing this.” Suho said, clicking his tongue when he opened the door to see a wall. He sighed before scratching his head.

“It’s supposed to give you a room now after Dragon commanded it, but it looks like it’s not time yet,” Suho said.

“I’m...” Hanbin started but seeing Suho’s confused face. He silently whispered the rest, “confused...”

They both sighed when Suho opened another door only to find the kitchen behind it. They were both surprised to see a beautiful lady standing by the counter, looking at the cookbook on it. She noticed their stares, and she immediately smiled at them.

“It looks like you’re lost.”

Hanbin felt like those brown orbs were familiar. The lovely milky skin and the beauty she possessed. He was unsure of it, but there was something about her that reminded him of Jinhwan.

“Ah! Goddess! It looks like we are.” Suho answered, stepping into the kitchen. Hanbin was rooted in his spot, still in awe of her beauty.

“You should come in. Once the door closes, it changes the space.” Suho said, and Hanbin quickly entered the kitchen before the door closed. Suho noticed Hanbin’s confusion, so he opened the door again, only for it to turn into a storage area for food. Hanbin’s eyes widened in surprise. The manor was quite something, and he’s surely confused beyond words.

“Suho-yah, how many times do I have to tell you that I’m not supposed to be called that?” The woman said, scrunching her face to exhibit her dissatisfaction. Suho just scratched the back of his head, “But the Dragon said--”

“I’m Dara. You can just call me Dee.” The woman said, reaching out her hand to Hanbin. But before Hanbin could even hold her hand to shake it, the Dragon suddenly appeared in front of him. His hand on the woman’s before pulling it aside and furrowing his brows at her. “No one’s supposed to call you, Dee!”

“Ji… I’m not a Goddess.” She reasoned, but the Dragon just whined before shaking his shoulders. “But you’re my Goddess.”

“So you call me Goddess, but let them call me Dee.”

“But I call you Dee!” 

“You’re so unreasonable.”

The woman just giggled, and the Dragon smiled at her before wrapping his arms around her and putting his chin on her shoulder to show off his puppy eyes.

Hanbin was terribly shocked to see the same man who threatened him moments ago turn into a fluffball the next. His mind was already going overdrive with the manor’s confusing layout, and then this 360-degree change was something that caught him more off guard.

Suho suddenly cleared his throat, looking away while still scratching his head. The moment the two lovebirds heard him, the Dragon glared at them but still had Dara in his arms. “This is Goddess. You’ll address her as that and never call her Dee.”

The two can already feel the kitchen atmosphere become heavy, but Dara simply kissed the Dragon’s cheek for him to change. “Don’t listen to this dragon. Call me, aunt Dee.”

“But I’m the only one allowed to call you Dee!” the Dragon whined one more time, this time stomping his feet. “You kids better call my wife Goddess. Besides, why are you here? Aren't you supposed to bring him to his room Suho?”

“That's what I was doing, but the doors didn't want to cooperate.”

“Did you let him open the doors?”

“Ah!” Suho looked surprised. The Dragon just rolled his eyes before standing up straight. He still had his arm over Dara’s shoulder before putting his other hand on his waist. “The doors won’t show you to your room unless you ask them to. This manor is created for the Gifted, and thus it will only help you if you ask for help. So you should try opening the doors, Hanbin.”

Hanbin bit his lower lip before facing the door they just went through. He was sure it changed into a food storage not too long ago, but he still took a step towards it and held the doorknob. He thought of the room he used to have in their house. Somehow, deep inside his heart, he hoped that he could still see that same room.

When Hanbin was opening the door, a sudden memory of Hanbyul screaming at him stopped his hand. The others immediately felt Hanbin’s mood change, but they couldn't really help much since this was Hanbin’s internal battle with himself.

Once the door opened, Dara gasped. It looked like his room when his Gift went out of control. The burnt room was black and filled with ashes and crisps or embers. Hanbin felt the air knocked out from him when he saw everything again, memories of that night started crawling into his consciousness and the feelings of guilt stepping on him.

“It wasn’t your fault.”

Hanbin looked to his side to see the Dragon standing there. He was looking at the room just like he was. He looked back at the room before talking.

“I… did that.”

“No. Your Gift did. And that's why you need to control it, so this won’t happen again.”

“Will… I be able to?”

“For Jinhwan’s sake… You’re supposed to.”

Hanbin looked back at the Dragon to see a glint of worry pass by his eyes. Though they welcomed him in this place, he hasn’t heard what they would do to Gifted that couldn't control their powers. He felt a cold shiver run down his spine when the Dragon looked down at him with threatening eyes.

The Dragon raised his hand before snapping it, and the room slowly turned back into the room that he used to have. From that smallest scratch to the biggest furniture in the room, everything was just the way as he could remember it.

“You’re here because we want to help you. The question is, will you stay to help yourself?”

\--- 

Hanbin was woken up by a big shake in the house. He saw his things shaking in his room, and there was only one explanation, an earthquake.

He immediately stood up, nevermind that he forgot to wear a shirt, and immediately headed to the door. The only thing in his mind was to get out, so the door immediately showed him out. The moment he stepped out, he felt a whole lot of bodies stumble on him.

“Morning, weaklings!” Junhoe grinned, hands on his hips while laughing proudly. He immediately received a hit on the head from his trainer for the day, Kyungsoo. The older Gifted sighed before helping everyone stand up.

“You hang out too much with Sehun, and you end up like this,” Kyungsoo mumbled before looking at Sehun, who was also one of the people who fell in Junhoe’s trap.

“What’s with this kind of wake-up call, Junhoe-hyung! It’s so unfair...” Donghyuk whined. 

“Tell me about it. I was just about ready to escape into the darkness.” Chanwoo answered.

“You were sound asleep. If I didn't wake you up, you wouldn't notice.” Yunhyeong said, looking at his twin, who just grinned at him.

Bobby just clicked his tongue before sweeping off the dirt on his clothes. Kyungsoo helped Suho and Sehun stand before the two helped Kai, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun. Hanbin grunted before noticing a hand stretched out to him. He looked up and saw Chanyeol reaching out his hand with a timid smile on his face.

“Hey… You alright?”

“I think so...”

Hanbin reached for his hand and immediately realized that Chanyeol was the man the Dragon talked about. Something about Chanyeol’s warmth reminded him of himself. There was a strong sense of connection between the two of them, and even Chanyeol felt it.

“So… you’re the new kid, huh? Sorry, you had to have your rest cut short.” Chanyeol said, smiling with a timid air around him. Hanbin just nodded before giving back a smile. “M-My name’s Kim, Hanbin...”

“I’m Park Chanyeol.”

“Park, Chanyeol?” Hanbin asked, remembering what the Dragon had said yesterday. “Y-you’re the one who has fire too!”

“Ah… y-yeah… the Dragon told me a little about you… Well... he said a lot, actually.” Chanyeol snickered, which made Hanbin cower. He wasn’t scared of the older, but he wasn’t sure what the Dragon could have said. “You don't have to worry much cause this place is made, especially for people like us. We’re destructive… but this place can take it.”

Hanbin wrinkled his forehead, puzzled at what the older meant. Chanyeol just grinned at him, assuring him that everything’s going to be alright.

“I think we better start your training too.”

Hanbin nodded; he had an eventful day yesterday, but he thought about the dragon’s question more than that.

_ “You’re here because we want to help you. The question is, will you stay to help yourself?” _

Hanbin sighed before looking back at Chanyeol with a different look in his eyes. He looked like he had finally thought of an answer to the Dragon’s question, and Chanyeol liked what he saw. The fire in his eyes was proof that he found his resolve.

“Hanbinie!!”

Everyone suddenly looked at the source of the voice and saw Jinhwan running their way. They wondered how he was the only one who didn't fall for Junhoe’s joke, again. But knowing how overprotective his father was, it was better that he was safe.

“Hanbinie! Before you start your training, I want to give this to you!” Jinhwan said, pulling Hanbin’s wrist and tying a woven bracelet on it. Hanbin looked at Jinhwan with confused eyes, but the other just smiled at him. “It’s a good luck charm. I’m not really good at anything, and I’m not Gifted, but I made this one to cheer you up. I hope you always remember me cheering for you when you see it.”

Hanbin’s lips immediately curved into a smile. Jinhwan was truly a blessing, and he was convinced that he was an angel. He immediately held Jinhwan’s hand to thank him.

Chanyeol stood there, watching them with a smile on his face, when he felt a cold air come from his side. He immediately turned to see what happened, and glaciers had already formed around Bobby. The guy had his hoodie on, so it was hard to see his face, but one thing was certain, he was NOT happy.

The other older Gifted were already prepared to pin him down if they had to, but Jinhwan was fast to notice Bobby’s unsatisfied mood. Jinhwan gave Hanbin a tight hug before walking towards Bobby, who seemed to have stopped making the glaciers when he noticed Jinhwan approaching him.

The darkness that surrounded Bobby was immediately replaced when Jinhwan peeked into the hoodie to smile at Bobby. He was obviously flustered at the cuteness that popped right in front of him, so he immediately looked away.

Jinhwan wrinkled his forehead, surprised that Bobby would look away from him, and then he immediately realized the situation. “Jiwonie… do you… miss them?”

Jinhwan was too innocent to realize that Bobby’s irritation was coming from his jealousy. In truth, Jinhwan thought that Bobby’s unsettling mood was due to him missing his family, but the latter’s emotions weren’t as deep as he had hoped.

Jinhwan thought hard before realizing what to do. Something he always sees his mother do to his father when he is frowning or even moody. Jinhwan tiptoed and planted a kiss on Bobby’s cheek, which immediately caused the glaciers to melt. Bobby looked at Jinhwan, who was smiling brightly at him, quite pleased that what he did seemed to have helped Bobby’s mood to improve tremendously. He hugged Bobby tightly before wishing him good luck and finally bouncing away from the training area.

Everyone that was watching slowly smiled, and teasing finally erupted. Whistles and loud cheers made the guy shake his head. Bobby wanted to glare at everyone, but they could all see the smile that was still on his face. He couldn’t even stop himself from smiling despite the outpouring cheers from the others.

On the other hand, a fuming Dragon was gripping on the metal supporter on the balcony as he watched what just happened. The metal supporter broke into pieces before the Dragon heard someone giggle beside him.

“Looks like you’re not the only whipped for your child, Ji.” Dara teased her husband as she stood beside him.

“He… He kissed Jiwon… He kissed Jiwon, Dee!” Jiyong growled, which bent the metal even more. Dara cupped his cheeks, pulling him to face her. She smiled at him before planting a kiss on his cheek. “And where do you think he learned that?”

“From you,” Jiyong grumbled, slowly losing the tension he was feeling.

“From me. And why do you think he did it?” Dara asked after planting another kiss on Jiyong’s other cheek.

“Because he sees you do it to me…” Jiyong grumbled, looking away, but Dara just clicked her tongue while trying to glare at him. “and why do I do that?”

He couldn’t help but smile at her the moment he looked directly into her eyes. “Fine… It’s because I tend to go out of control.”

“Exactly. He learns from what he sees from us. So… it’s partly your fault too.” Dara giggled. She suddenly gasped when Jiyong held on to her waist to pull her in for a kiss. Eyes closing and hands wrapping around his nape, the two were lost in their own world yet again as the others started their training.

A grin slowly formed on his lips as he looked at the couple from a faraway distance—eyes filled with rotten intent that would send shivers down one’s spine.

“Finally… I found you~!”


	4. Chapter 4

“It looks like you’re already inspired enough... Shall we start with your training now and see if that lucky charm works?” Chanyeol cut Hanbin’s dreamy gaze that was following Jinhwan out of the training grounds. Hanbin then directed his eyes back to the older, who immediately saw the hesitation in the younger's eyes. 

“Like I said, don’t hesitate. We’re here to help you. The training ground is well equipped for all of our gifts.” the older encouraged, the younger one by looking around. Hanbin followed Chanyeol’s gaze and saw that the other gifted has already started with their training. 

The twins are with Baekhyun trying to separate one’s shadow and make it move on its own. Yunhyeong was trying to redirect the light to change its course and make it physical. 

Donghyuk fell hard after he attempted to make himself fly. He was hurt, of course, but he still stood up and tried it all over again.

On the other side, Kyungsoo can be seen hitting Junhoe's head after disturbing the twins by constantly moving the land they are standing on. Hanbin couldn't help but snort at the trainer and trainee, not getting along with each other.

He felt a cold air come from a different direction, and sure enough, he saw Jiwon making the most amazing and detailed gigantic ice crystal flowers.

"Waaa!" Hanbin let out with an amazed face. He was surprised to see such beauty. And for someone as young as Bobby to be able to control his gift like it was nothing, he felt an urge to try as well.

"Amazing, right? Believe it or not, they were once like you. Scared to even accept they’re different. That's why Dragon and Goddess made this place. To help Gifted people like us accept and control our Gifts in the best way possible. I say that like it’s easy, but it never is. It takes time to control your Gift but whether you control it or let it control you is all up to you." 

Hanbin let the words of the older sink in. He can do it as well, can’t he? But what if he burns the whole place again? What if he accidentally hurt someone again? What if he hurt Jinhwan? He can't bear thinking of it.

Seeing that the younger is still hesitant. Chanyeol sighed and started producing fireball in his hand, showing it to Hanbin. This caught the younger’s attention.

"Let’s start with producing a small bit of fire. So could you try and do it? But for additional inspiration, lemme share a secret in controlling your Gift." Chanyeol fished for Hanbin's interest, and once he saw the other is interested enough, he continued. "Instead of thinking you'll destroy something, think of it as protecting someone."

_ 'Protecting someone?'  _ Hanbin thought to himself, and instantly his eyes searched for a certain purple haired angel watching from the outskirts of the training grounds. He was cheering for them, and when he noticed Hanbin, he waved at the guy. Hanbin unconsciously smiled. 

Chanyeol noticed the younger's attention focused on their little JInhwan. He couldn’t help but look at his own person to protect, who isn’t so far from him and is quite busy with his students. 

"So… are you all set now," Chanyeol asked, looking back at Hanbin. The younger looked back at his trainer before nodding. He took a deep breath as he tried loosening his tense muscles. He raised his hand, looking at it.

"Alright! First lesson. I want you to produce flames in your palm. No matter how small it is, I need you to think of it burning on your palm." And as soon as Chanyeol said that, red tongues of flame appeared in his palms. Showing it to the younger who was nodding.

Hanbin looked so amazed that the older had so much control of his flames. He saw his trainer’s hair resemble the flames' appearance as his previously blonde hair is now burning bright red.

"You just need to concentrate your power on that specific part of your body. Imagine it there, and it’ll appear where you want it to." Chanyeol explained. "Take it as a challenge to protect your new bracelet. It's something precious, right?"

Hanbin nodded and followed what the older Gifted instructed. He concentrated and felt his body getting warmer. He was about to panic when he heard Chanyeol again. "Concentrate Hanbin. Don't let fear take control over you! Remember, you’re protecting something important to you. You can't protect anything if you're afraid. Your flames understand what you’re thinking. It knows if you’re afraid of it."

And that pulled Hanbin back. He focused all his power and energy, directing the warmth he is feeling towards his palm. He can feel how the heat moved from his arms down to his hands. A spark appeared before a flash of fire appeared...

"Hy-hyung!!! Hyung!!! Hyung, I think I’m doing it," Hanbin excitedly informed Chanyeol, and like an older brother, Chanyeol smiled approvingly.

"Good job Hanbin! Now imagine adding more power so the flames will flow out and become stronger." He instructed. Hanbin nodded, feeling inspired after having accomplished something.

As soon as Hanbin put more power into his body, his eyes and hair changed again to a fiery red, and on his palm, flames went ablaze. But another spark appeared before surprising both Hanbin and Chanyeol. The color of the flames changed into a different hue. On Hanbin's palm is blazing blue flames, dancing around with the air.

‘You got blue flames.’ Chanyeol whispered. 

He is amazed since he has never seen anyone with such a color. His eyes urgently searched for the head of the manor, and as expected, he saw the Dragon standing by the balcony of the manor. The man saw everything, including the blue flames.

Chanyeol asked the Dragon mentally if he knows about this, and he just nodded. The Dragon knew about the blue flames, but it was through Bobby and Jinhwan's memory that he discovered Hanbin's special gift.

The older gifted chuckled, shaking his head. The kid in front of him is definitely a rare Gifted. And from the looks of it, the boy is clueless about what he has.

"Amazing work Hanbin. That will be all today. You can practice doing it with the other parts of your body, or you can try making it bigger." Chanyeol congratulated the boy who, from the looks of it, missed most of what he said as his eyes immediately focused on a certain boy skipping back into the training grounds with some snacks.

"Binnie!!!!! You produced fire in your palm!!!!" Jinhwan exclaimed. "And its color blue!!!!! It's so pretty!!!!"

Dara, who saw it, was surprised as well, but she recovered quickly and offered everyone in the fields some snacks and drinks.

  
  


\---

  
  


"Ji, have you heard from Chanyeol?" Dara asked as she placed a cup of coffee on her husband’s desk. The guy looked up to him, smiling.

"Not just heard, my love. I saw it for myself. It's awe-inspiring. Blue fire. The most powerful flame." Dragon shakes his head upon his realization. “Who would’ve known we’ll finally get one.”

Dara sat on the Dragon's lap, a throne that is rightfully hers, wrapping her arms around the Dragon's neck. "You know, your son has a knack for discovering treasures. Just like me." Dara cooed as she pecks a kiss on the leader's lips.

"Mmmhmm. I like the sound of that. My precious treasure hunters." Dragon agreed as his arms snaked to the slim waist of his wife.

"But, I would love to hear a different sound right about now." Jiyong teasingly whispered to the older's ears. "Something more sexy and sultry."

"Ohhhh. Sounds like a challenge…" Dara smirked as her finger slowly trailed down the strong physique of her husband as she bit her lower lip.

"Are up for the challenge, then Mrs. Kwon?"Jiyong questioned as he changed their position with Dara now in between the Dragon's sturdy body and the study table, hands anchoring her from completely falling flat on top of it. "You look appetizing this way, my Dee." 

Dara being extra courageous, pulled Jiyong's necktie close to her lips, just inches away from each other. 

"My husband is one powerful gifted if not the most powerful. But I won't back out from your challenge." She smirked. And just when they were about to taste each other's lips…

"Apppppaaaaaa!!!!!! Junhoe is teasing me again!!!!!!" Jinhwan's complained and abruptly opened the door.

And on cue, a shrill of horror is heard in the entire manor alerting almost all of the Gifted, most especially Hanbin and Bobby, for they know exactly who owns that voice. 

Urgently, the two men ran to help and possibly save Jinhwan from whoever or whatever hurt him, only to see two blushing adults and a visibly red Jinhwan.

Chanyeol also went to the area where he heard the scream and immediately laughed hard when he realized what had happened.

"Noona! Hyung! Learn to lock if your planning to play!" He made fun of the two leaders before instructing the also blushing Jiwon and Hanbin to drag Jinhwan out of the 'crime scene'.

"So... Aside from doing x-rated scene in front of your son. Why am I being called?" Chanyeol suddenly shifted from a carefree instructor to a serious strategist.

  
  


\---

The whole day, Hanbin still cannot believe what he was able to do. It's like he is dreaming something too good to be true that it scares him. It’s making him think that there must be something more to it than just that. He went out the balcony of the manor, hoping to get some air while still thinking.

"Was it just a fluke?" Hanbin asked himself. 

"Let's try again?" And so he concentrated his power once again to his palm, and as soon as he felt heat creeping slowly from his chest to his arms, he followed its path, and then he realized, "I'm still wearing the bracelet!?" 

He immediately stopped and decided that it would be better if he removes his exceptional item. Once his treasured bracelet was removed, he made his power flow to his palm again but now, instead of a blue fire, red flames shoot up.

"Huh!? Red? I thought my flames are blue?" Hanbin wondered.

"Hanbin hyung! Time to eat!!!!" 

  
  


\---

Hanbin arrived in the dining room, with almost everyone seated. But one particular seat got his attention. The seat beside Jinhwan was shining, inviting him to go. But it seems he's not the only one gunning for it.

"Ohhh! Bobby hyung! Come. Let's eat now." Donghyuk invited, clasping his arm on the older who was walking straight towards the seat beside Jinhwan. However, even before Bobby can approach the seat…

"Habinnieeeee! Sit beside me neh!!!" Jinhwan smiled, waving at the older.

Hanbin can swear butterflies were fluttering in his stomach as he shyly sat beside his angel, but as he was sitting down, he felt his feet turn cold, and he knew who it was. Hanbin was about to confront Bobby, but it seems like Jinhwan also noticed it.

"Jiwonie? Are you not feeling well?" Jinhwan pouted worriedly. "Your power is leaking again..."

"Ani… Don't worry about it. You sit there and eat… Enjoy." Bobby said, his voice threatening and quite pissed off again.

"Urgh!!! Can we eat in peace! I'm not up to the dramatic love triangle of you three," Junhoe complained, glaring at them.

By the time the dessert came, Jinhwan is busy telling the story of how Hanbin made blue flames over his palm. He was so proud of the older when he noticed something missing from his arm.

"H-Hanbinnie… you didn't like the bracelet I gave you?" Jinhwan pouted. The older immediately looked at his wrist, panic slowly consuming him. The younger looked away and noticed Bobby staring at him.

"Ohhh! Right! I'm sleeping with Jiwonnie today, right?" Jinhwan smiled. Bobby’s eyes widened, surprised at what he heard despite the smile apparent on his face. "Neh????"

"WHAT!?" Hanbin asked in horror.

"WAEEEE!" The Dragon complained, looking at his wife, who just rolled her eyes.

"I gave him the permission Ji." Dara explained to her husband, holding his hand and smiling.

"B-b-but my… my baby." whined the leader, obviously freaking out about what Dara had agreed for them to do.

"Your baby is already out of the table and with his future partners," Dara snickered while consoling her whining lover.

Hanbin, on the other hand, is agitated. He forgot where he put his bracelet, and hearing about the news; he was feeling emotions flood into him. But first, he needed to find his precious, precious bracelet. 

"Argh! C'mon brain! Work! Where did I put it!" Hanbin grumbled, walking back and forth by the lobby.

And just like timing is on his side, Yunhyeong arrives with a circular item in his hand. "Were you looking for this? I found it outside by the balcony."

Hanbin felt his heart turn calm when he saw the bracelet on the other’s hand. He immediately thanked him and put the bracelet back on his wrist.

~~~ Present Time~~~

“I’m going in!” Hanbin exclaimed when his patience finally wore off. Just when he was about to leave the dark dome, Bobby grabbed his wrist and twisted it behind him before slamming him to the wall. “I’m not letting you fuck this up. Leave it to the ones who know what they’re doing!”

“I… I found him… I found Jinhwan-hyung!”


	5. Chapter 5

~~~ Present Time~~~

“I’m going in!” Hanbin exclaimed when his patience finally wore off. Just when he was about to leave the dark dome, Bobby grabbed his wrist and twisted it behind him before slamming him to the wall. “I’m not letting you fuck this up. Leave it to the ones who know what they’re doing!”

“I… I found him… I found Jinhwan-hyung!”

Bobby immediately pushed Hanbin aside to head over to Donghyuk’s side. “Where is he?”

“It’s faint, but I’m sure this is his smell. He’s at the docks, the third warehouse from the port.” Donghyuk said, looking at Bobby.

“Then let’s go. We’re not wasting another moment.” Bobby said, looking at Chanwoo, who nodded and finally removed the dark sphere that cloaked their presence.

Years of training and continuous teachings finally led them to become better and grow into Gifted that could control their Gifts.

The incident was well planned, they thought. The older Gifted were out on missions while the Dragon and the Goddess were out on vacation. They were tasked to take care of Jinhwan, specifically Bobby and Hanbin but look at where they are now.

They knew how gullible the younger one is, but to think that he’d willingly go along with the perpetrators is beyond them. There were no signs of forced entry nor a fight, and they know Jinhwan would definitely scream for help if he were in trouble.

The moment they reached the docks, they all looked at each other to give the nod. The plan was to surround it and make sure to infiltrate the place. Yunhyeong and Chanwoo were tasked as the rescuers, Bobby and Hanbin are the defenders, and Junhoe and Donghyuk were there for negotiations and traps. It was a perfect plan.

Yunhyeong and Chanwoo circled to the back of the warehouse to start with the rescue process.

The moment Donghyuk and Junhoe pushed the doors open, they saw four men standing in the middle of the warehouse. Hands in their pockets and faces covered in masks. However, in the middle of them was a man tied to a chair with a cover on his head. They all looked in worry, knowing that it was Jinhwan.

“J-Jinhwan-hyung...” Donghyuk called out in worry. Bobby and Hanbin felt their insides tremble at the sight. They were all just looking at each other before Junhoe finally clicked his tongue to talk.

“We’re here to get him back. Just hand him over, and we can talk about this whole thing in a civilized manner.” Junhoe said, seeing as Bobby and Hanbin are already riled. He needed to remind them that Jinhwan’s safety is the priority.

“Civilized, huh?” One of the men said, stepping forward. “Then, let’s talk without using our Gifts.”

The others were obviously surprised to hear what he said. To know the existence of the Gift means they either have one or they’re one of the hunters who’s looking to use those who are Gifted. He looked at Bobby before smiling, “Then let’s talk.”

They were all surprised to see chairs appear right behind them. They all looked at each other, worried. They’ve never seen this kind of Gift before, and they weren’t sure what they’d do.

“So… what kind of civilized talk are we about to have?” One of the men asked, sitting on his own chair alongside the others. Donghyuk and Junhoe looked at each other before sitting on the chair and realizing that it was real. Meanwhile, Bobby and Hanbin were too riled up to realize the chairs behind them. Donghyuk cleared his throat, and a gust of wind pushed both down to the chairs.

“You have someone that belongs to us. The man tied on the chair is one of our own. Would you please return him?” Donghyuk asked nicely. Junhoe looked at him in total disbelief. He couldn’t believe that the youngest of them is the one in charge of everything. He looked back and rolled his eyes. Donghyuk was definitely the best candidate for the job.

“This guy? Nah., I don’t think he’s yours.” The guy said, casually sitting on the chair before standing up and patting the head of the one on the chair. “Are you one of them?”

Donghyuk immediately looked back at the older ones who were already fuming in anger. He was pretty sure they’d at least hold the fort, but it looks like they’re willing to destroy everything just to rescue Jinhwan.

To their surprise, the one tied on the chair shook their head. They were all confused, but Donghyuk immediately shook his head. “No…. that’s impossible… that’s Jinhwan-hyung’s scent!”

We 

“I say we burn this place down!” Hanbin says, flames are already flowing freely out of him.

The men in masks just smiled at them as they sat on their chairs, unaffected by Hanbin’s flames. Something about it pushed Hanbin back to re-evaluate what was happening. On the other hand, Bobby stood from the chair and created a blizzard to cover their tracks while they headed towards the man tied to the chair. The man who initially made the chairs didn’t budge, albeit they stood there looking as if in observance of what they’ll do next...

“Damn it. We’re going with plan B!” Junhoe grumbled before kicking the chair back and slamming his hands on the ground. The other men in the warehouse jumped away when they saw the ground moving, creating a crater around the man tied on the chair. Donghyuk pushed himself off the ground and immediately flew towards the guy.

One of the men disappeared while the person who made the chair clicked his tongue. The other two were about to attack when Junhoe growled, and the landmass from the crater rose, covering Donghyuk and the man tied on the chair.

Hanbin and Bobby looked at Donghyuk. He immediately used his powers to pull the older ones inside the cylindrical mass that Junhoe made.

Bobby immediately ran towards the man, untying him while Hanbin removed the cover on his face.

But the moment the cover was removed, he gasped to see someone else sitting on the chair.

“Boo!”

Suddenly, the cylindrical place was covered in frost. Junhoe immediately collapsed to the ground. Hands covered his frost with his lips already turning blue. Hanbin immediately jumped away from the guy, who they thought was Jinhwan, but he was immediately followed. The guy touched Hanbin’s chest, and he fell on his knees with difficulty in breathing.

Hanbin watched a speck of frost on his chest crawl out and spread towards his body. No matter how much he tried to fight it off with his fire, the frost melted a bit but continued to re-appear over and over again.

Donghyuk, on the other hand, attacked the guy and was overpowered when the guy held his neck. Frost started spreading from him, and just before it spread around his head, Bobby’s ice countered it.

The guy looked back at Bobby and smirked at him.

“I never thought I’d see a day…”

“Who the fuck are you?! Where the fuck is Jinhwan?!” Hanbin’s voice blasted, but the guy didn’t give him any attention. He was concentrating on Bobby, who seemed to be the calmest at that moment. Bobby was sure that they didn’t know their Gifts, and this was a total disadvantage to them. He was sure that their Gifts were rare, so he was quite surprised to see these other Gifts just as rare as theirs.

“Why do you have the same Gift as mine?” Bobby asked, eyes slowly turning into a hue of blue.

“Same?” He grins before laughing. “Don’t make me laugh… I’m nothing like you.”

Bobby noticed the frost slowly crawling up his legs, but he immediately countered it. He heard the guy laughing, “Like I told you, we’re nothing alike.”

“You… Where’s Jinhwan?!” Bobby asked, and he just shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know.”

“If you don’t tell us where he is, our other teammates are going to breakdown this warehouse, and you’ll all die.” Bobby threatened, thinking of a way to turn the tides of the battle. The guy just raised his brows before laughing maniacally. He could see the confusion building up in Bobby’s face, and he reveled at the fact that the younger seemed to be so confused about what’s happening.

“You mean the other two young ones that went out back? Those are your back up?” Bobby’s eyes widened with what he heard. More than that, he couldn’t help but look at the others. He didn’t hear Hanbin complaining anymore, and Donghyuk’s pleads were silenced.

Bobby was shocked to see everyone covered in Frost while he stood there, unaffected. The guy walked towards Bobby, as if casually strolling in a park.

“Don’t come any closer! Tell me where Jinhwan is!” Bobby threatened. Pillars of ice shot out of the ground and formed into icicles, ready to stab the guy. Each of them, he simply passed his hand before it all turned into frost, and it all fell on the ground. Bobby was confused about what happened. He kept making icicles, and each time they turned into frost and fell back into the ground, creating a mound of snow.

“Whoever taught you didn’t raise you well.” The guy said, steps away from Bobby. “Don’t you know that the Gift of Ice can never hurt another who has the same Gift as yours?”

“For short… You’re useless in the face of another Ice Gift.” He says,

“Then, that means you’re just as useless!” Bobby said, throwing a punch at the guy. He was a bit disoriented, but he just took a deep breath before looking at Bobby. “Unless you could control Absolute Zero, then you stand no chance against me.”

When Bobby was about to pack another punch, the guy evaded it and punched Bobby instead. It became a test of strength but just when Bobby got the upper hand. The guy pulled back before laughing.

“You’re strong… But are you heartless?”

“Tell me where Jinhwan is!”

“Jinhwan? You’re looking for someone else while your teammates are dying beside you?” The guy said, and Bobby immediately looked at the others. “Our Gift can kill people… don’t you remember what happened to your family?”

“How do you—”

“Begs the question… Would you surrender just to save them?”

Bobby had to work double-time, countering the frost that covered everyone and battle the guy in front of him. He knew his exhaustion was about to hit back double time, but he needed to get information from the other guy. Just when he was getting the upper hand again, two unconscious bodies suddenly appeared on the floor. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that it was Yunhyeong and Chanwoo.

Even before the guy’s frost could reach them, he immediately enveloped them with his own ice. He could at least control their body temperatures that way instead of letting the guy use his Gift to kill them.

He saw the guy smiling when he felt something on his ribs. He was shocked to see a spear of Frost running right through his chest. Adrenaline rushed through his body as his eyes turned into a dangerous hue of Blue, and in a second, they were engulfed in the purest form of ice.

But before he could damage the other guy, his consciousness failed him, and he fainted.

\---

Bobby gasped, sitting up before wincing in pain. He panted before holding on to his chest, looking around to see the others lying on the ground. They were still in the warehouse, but they were all lying on the bed, covered in bandages.

He furrowed his brows before looking around.

“What…?”

He felt someone hit his head, and when he looked around, he saw the same guy he fought. He was just about to get into battle mode, but his wound was still fresh.

“You idiot! You really went into battle without making up a proper plan? Ugh… I don’t know what the Dragon’s gonna say when he finds out what you kiddos did.” Xiumin, the guy who Bobby fought with, said. Bobby looked at him with eyes wide open, wondering why the guy knew Dragon when he was just attacking them moments ago.

“Relax. Jinhwan’s safe. He’s out having tea with Chanyeol and Baekhyun. Man, I don’t know that those people are teaching yall, but you decide too much with this,” pointing at Bobby’s chest, “before using this!” pointing to his head.

“But… I… I don’t understand…” Bobby says.

“I think we need to explain from the start Xiumin,” Lay says, stepping into the conversation and creating a chair right beside the bed. Bobby looked at him, confused and bewildered that these people are actually on the same side.

“We’re part of the first batch that the Dragon and the Goddess trained to blend into society. We’re kind of like spies, making sure that there’s no threat to Gifted people such as ourselves. So, since you guys are our juniors, Dragon decided to test how much you’ve mastered your Gifts.” Lay explains in a way that Bobby comprehends. The guy was already nodding his head to the explanation when Kris chimed in.

“And let me tell you, so far, you guys are weak.” Another new face confused Bobby even more.

“Since this is your first challenge as a team, we were pretty lenient with you. Plus, your plan was pretty good when we were listening to it. The only problem is, we got inside your heads, and then you just fucked it all up.” Chen said as he stepped into the mix. “You guys are assholes.” Bobby said, glaring at them. “You expect me to believe you that Jinhwan is just having tea with Chanyeol and Baekhyun without showing me proof?”

“Luhan?” Lay called out, and Bobby hears someone grunt before grumbling incoherent words behind him. He looks back and sees someone snap his fingers before he falls on the pavement of a sidewalk. He looked around, and his surroundings changed. He was already in the city.

“What…? Where…?” Bobby wondered, confused at what happened.

“There they are. Please don’t show yourself. Jinhwan’s gonna freak out if he sees you in those bandages.” Luhan says, hiding behind a big building while motioning Bobby to go where he was. Bobby obliged and stepped closer to the guy. He peeked behind the building and saw Jinhwan laughing with Chanyeol and Baekhyun over tea and some cakes. He was genuinely happy with the two, lost in their conversation, and truly enjoying their company.

Bobby was just enjoying his laughter when he was transported back into the warehouse, where the others were just waking up. He sighed, shaking his head before looking back at the people around him.

“So, all of this was like a test of some sort…?” Bobby asked, and they all looked at each other before nodding.

\---

“Are you sure you’re alright? I saw something red on your elbow.” Jiyong asked, looking at Dara while pouting. Dara just chuckled at him before shaking her head. “Ji, it scraped on the car. Don’t worry about it.”

“I don’t want you to have any scars.” He stops right in front of her, puppy eyes while pouting—a sure way to get her to stop and listen.

“Yes, Ji. I’m fine. It was just a scratch. It’ll be better. I’ll put ointment on it when I get the chance to.” She says, smiling at him before going on his tiptoes to kiss him. He sighed as their lips touched. Loving the warmth from her lips and smelling her scent. He smiled before leaning back down and kissing her again.

“I love you…”

“I love you too…”

The two looked at each other, smiling without a care about anything. Jiyong opened the door to his office and immediately halted when he saw a familiar man sitting on his chair.

“We meet again…”


	6. Chapter 6

"Hwannie! Did you enjoy our date?" Baekhyun asked the younger, who is happily munching on the cookies they bought.

"Neh hyung! Thank you for treating me today! I have to tell you... I really, really did miss going out with you and Chanyeollie-hyung." Jinhwan smiled widely as he remembered when the couple came up to him that morning. He was reading in his mother's glass garden when the couple came to invite him to join their little field trip. Jinhwan knew it was a date, but he was still happy that the couple included him, so he joined in when they looked like they wanted him to join.

"Well, I'm glad you had fun today, little one." Chanyeol said as he ruffled the younger's hair, which only earned a scowl.

"Yah! Hyung!!! Don’t touch the hair! Aish! I'll have to fix it again! Hmph!" Jinhwan’s scowl turned into a pout as he stomped his way to the washroom.

Chanyeol and Baekhyung chuckled at his child-like outrage, yet as soon as Jinhwan was out of sight, the couple's expression immediately turned grim.

"Yeollie, the crystal is getting weak. Something’s happening to Dara noona." Baekhyun worriedly informed his other half. "I know. I also felt that. But this is exactly why we orchestrated this kidnapping scheme. To train the boys and to save Jinan from those men who're trying to gain out Gifts to use it for evil.."

"But Yeol, what will happen? I'm worried about Nani."

"I know, sweetie. But it’s a direct order from Dragon. We have to trust them. They know what they're doing. I'm sure… I’m sure they do."

"HYUNG!!!! LET'S GO HOME!" Jinhwan burst out of the washroom with labored breath, panic evident in his face as it grew pale every passing second.

"Jinani, why? What Happened? Are you okay?" Baekhyun asked as he eyed Chanyeol, begging for help. They both know they can't go back yet. Not just yet.

"H-hyung!!!! O-omma! I-I-I can feel omma is in trouble." Jinhwan explained despite the gasping and the hiccups. "Let's go home! You guys need to help my momma, ok!" He wailed as panic invaded his system and forced him to leave the cafe.

Just as his body was trying to step away from the two, Baekhyun hugged the youngest, trying to calm him down. They need to keep him safe.

"Nani, honey. Calm down first... okay." Baekhyun consoled the smaller. "We understand why you’re in a panic, but your parents aren’t even in your house. So… So we should trust them… okay?" He negotiated while rubbing the younger’s back.

Jinhwan felt helpless.

He looked at Chanyeol, hoping that he would be convinced to help him, but the older Gifted did not give in to his request.

"Hyuuuung! My parents!!!! My Omma! My Appa!" He cried.

The couple couldn't help but share worried looks. It seems like it is indeed happening, and all they could do right now is to keep their promise and make sure that they take Jinhwan as far away from the mansion as possible.

\---

"Yah! Answer me! What do you mean by this is a test?" Bobby annoyingly asked Xuimin, who immediately rolled his eyes to glare at Bobby.

"I'm your Hyung, you pea brain!!!! And it is what it is. A test. But unfortunately for you and your friends, you all fail." 

"Quite badly if I may add," Luhan added with obvious ridicule in his voice. "And that wasn’t even half of us. If we had worked together as a team, our Gifts would overwhelm you." 

"It was mostly just Xuimin hyung who you fought everyone, and you all lost to him... pathetically, even... then we saw there's no need for us to do anything really." Chen snickered.

"Yah! Are you mocking us! You… You panda!!!" Junhoe felt offended and retorted only to be hit on the head by Kris.

"You’re still a bunch of kids! How can you ever-" The older's sermon was cut short when Kai suddenly appeared in front of them. The older Gifted were apparently shocked in nervousness while the younger Gifted looked in utter surprise.

On the other hand, Kai didn't seem to notice the younger Gifted in the room since he was too concentrated on passing the news.

"It's starting." That's all Kai said before Kris started barking orders to the other Gifted. 

"Shit! This soon?!” Kris gritted his teeth before hissing. “Fuck! Go to Chanyeol and tell them to be on the lookout. Make sure not to lose Jinhwan!" He ordered. Kai nodded before taking a step and disappearing again.

"Xui. Chen. Guard this place. You two will be our defenses. I'll survey from above." 

"Lay. The kids…" Bobby gripped on Kris' arms as soon as he heard Jinhwan's name.

"What the hell is happening? What do you mean, do not lose Jinhwan?!" Bobby asked, and as if he can sense the environment, Hanbin also, by this time, woke up.

"Bobby!" Hanbin charged. Already in a fighting stance, ready to back up Bobby.

"Chill down, kid. We're not your enemy here." Xuimin explained, face evidently not in the mood to explain things all over again. As he pulled Bobby’s hand away from Kris, Hanbin gritted his teeth.

"I'll let your friend explain everything to you and the others. For now, we need to go. Kris." Xiumin said, facing the other.

‘ _ Dang it! Why do I feel like Jinhwan is in trouble! Why are they ignoring my questions!’ _ Bobby pushed Hanbin aside, visibly angry that his questions were left unanswered. 

Hanbin may not know but what he heard from Bobby is enough to keep him riled up. Jinhwan may be in trouble, and he is not there to protect him. Hanbin then held the left side of his chest, exactly where his heart is. It's painful, and all he can think about is Jinhwan. He's scared but at the same time angry.

"Whoever is hurting you, my angel, I will make sure they pay." He whispered.

\---

Jinhwan did become calmer, but it didn't take away his fear of what’s happening to his parents. For each passing minute, he can sense his mother’s agony rising.

The connection that Jiyong made for his wife and child upon Jinhwan birth was a favor that Dara told him. This connection was supposed to let Dara know when her son is in danger, and in return, she will let Jiyong know of any changes Jinhwan may have in his life. Unfortunately, the connection seems to be doing the opposite now and has been sending Dara’s emotional pain towards Jinhwan.

And now he knows that his parents are in trouble, wherever they may be.

Jinhwan can definitely feel that his mother needs help, but he is unsure how to do it. He was also unsure how to find them.

Unwillingly, Jinhwan is ushered by Baekhyun to rest at a nearby hotel, which made him question why they didn’t just head back to the mansion. Baekhyun and Chanyeol promised him that they would head over to the mansion first thing in the morning, but he wonders why they simply just can’t go home now.

Deep in his heart, he knows that he must do something or else it will be too late if he waits it out.

Despite agreeing to their request, he has certainly made up his mind of running away at the first chance he gets.

  
  
  
\---

"I'm so sorry Hyung! Just this once, I cannot listen to you." He whispered, quietly getting out of the hotel room the Gifted couple got for him. He took a peek around to make sure that the two were nowhere around, and as soon as he opened the door, he paused.

GUARDS.

He took a shaky breath as his thoughts rotated to the fact that the couple really intended to keep him here.

"They will not see me. They will not see me." Jinhwan chanted like a whispered prayer as he walked past guard after guard with his head bowed down. Unbeknownst to him, his eyes and hair changed into a stunning lavender hue.

And as if it was a miracle, no guards saw him. His heart hammered inside his chest as he stepped outside the hotel’s main door. He looked around before whispering to himself. "Finally. Wait for me, Omma. I'll save you for sure."

A Few minutes had passed before Baekhyun decided to visit the younger gifted just to check on him, only to be welcomed by an empty room.

“Jinhwan? Jinhwan!” Baekhyun called out, but no answer came. He practically flipped the room upside down, but there was no trace of the younger inside the place. Baekhyun immediately ran out of the room and into the lobby.

"Chanyeol!" He shouted. "Hunnie. We have a problem! Jinhwan slipped past us!" 

"What!? Shit! We can't let him go back to the mansion!" Chanyeol immediately raked his hair with eyes planning to jump out of its sockets.

"We better hurry!" Baekhyun informed Chanyeol as he held on to a mirror that reflected Jinhwan looking through a moving car window. "He's almost there."

"Dang it! Hun, connect with Xui hyung. We need back-up. You stay low and be my defense if things go for the worst." Chanyeol ordered his lover as they made their way to the Dragon’s Mansion.

\---

"WHAT!!!!! How can you let that happen, Baekhyun! I'm going there now." Xuimin exclaimed as he raked his hair in frustration.

"Hyung! You need to bring Hanbin and Bobby with you." Baekhyun requested, despite the seeping anger from his hyung.

"Why? They are still so weak, Baek. No offense, but they act on too much feelings! They’ll just get in the way!" The older informed. "Jinhwan will only get in more danger with them on the battlefield." 

"Did you just say Jinhwan is in danger!?" Hanbin cut the conversation off by pulling Xiumin’s shoulder, but the older man ignored him and again faced Baekhyun's reflection on his Mirror Frost. But Hanbin was more persistent, especially when the older mentioned Jinhwan’s name along with the word danger. He forcefully made the older Gifted face him.

"Should I repeat my question? HYUNG!? WHAT. HAPPENED. TO. JINHWAN!" The young gifted shouted as blue flames started to manifest in his body. Hair turned fiery red, and his eyes turned bloodshot red with blue flames surrounding him.

For the first time, Xuimin felt terrified as he looked at the blue flames that surrounded Hanbin. He has already seen Chanyeol in his berserk mode, but never did he feel this much power. And with the fact that even his Mirror Frost was starting to melt, his mind shouted that this child was dangerous.

Hanbin's outburst, however, did not go unnoticed. Bobby immediately held on to the younger's shoulders, pulling him back from the older. Xiumin’s eyes widened when he saw Bobby unaffected by the blue flames despite touching it directly.

"Calm down. You're scaring him. And scaring him will not make him answer your question." Bobby said, convincing Hanbin. The flames from the other slowly died down, but his eyes and hair remained the same.

Xiumin and Baekhyun, who is watching the exchange, did not fail to notice that Bobby, although calm, has already accumulated a dangerous white colored ice on his hands creeping up to his arm.

"Trust me on this hyung. We need them there. Jinhwan will need those two." Baekhyun broke Xiumin's contemplation before the elder finally gave up.

"Fine! I'm bringing you two. But you pea brains will follow EVERY command, Chanyeol and I will tell you. Understand?"

The two young Gifted just nodded in agreement. They will do anything to reach their beloved Jinhwan as soon as possible.

"Baek. We’ll be on our way. Try to get a hold of Jinhwan even before he reaches the mansion. We're not even sure what we’re up against. That person’s Gift isn’t exactly known, and if we'll be facing him alone."

"Neh hyung. I’ll do my best. Chan is on his way to you. I’ll contact Kai to transport you all."

“No need. Luhan can move us all there.” Baekhyung nodded before Xiumin melted the mirror and finally facing the two. "And you two, I'll explain every important detail on the way. Now stop looking like lost, angry puppies and prepare!"

~~~AT THE SAME TIME~~~

"We meet again, my precious little Goddess. How Have you been, hm?" The man asked, a grin apparent on his face.

Jiyong immediately hid his flustered wife behind him.

"What are you doing here!" Jiyong growled.

"Oh. Such a brave young man you have as your husband, my dear." The stranger smirked. "But I'm afraid playtime is over, sweetie. You have to come home with me now." He stated as a dark aura started to surround him.

"H-how did you find us? Find me?" Dara stammered.

"Oh, princess, I have my ways. Besides, I just want to see your beautiful family. I heard you have a son who is as beautiful as you are." The stranger then started to make his way around the table facing the couple.

"I just want to see if he inherited any of his parent’s… rare Gifts" He said as he wore a demonic smile. "I'm here to retrieve my property."

Jiyong felt Dara’s hand gripping on his shirt. She was trembling behind him, and he wouldn't let this man scare his wife.

“Leave.“ Jiyong commanded as his hair turned into a dark violet color. His eyes turned pure black as his aura rose from him.

“Oh… Oh! Why is my body moving on its own? Oh!” The guy mocked before finally letting out a maniacal laughter, which surprised both Jiyong and Dara.

“W-why isn’t he… affected?”

”Come, my little princess. Give your old man a hug.” The man suddenly said, and as if hypnotized into the man’s voice, Dara let go of Jiyong’s shirt and slowly stepped out of his husband’s back to move towards the other guy.

When Jiyong saw what Dara was doing, he immediately held on to her arm. “Dee, what are you doing?!”

But Dara wasn’t fazed. Her steps did not halt, and Jiyong didn’t have a choice but to pull her awake with his power.

“Snap out of it!” Jiyong exclaimed as his eyes glowed. Dara’s eyes did the same, and she was pulled out of whatever it is that hypnotized her.

“What…? W-what happened?” Dara asked, and Jiyong immediately glared at the man. “What trick did you use?!”

“Trick?” The man just laughed. “There’s no trick to it, Dragon… It’s merely a Gift.”

“That’s impossible… You’re a Normal. How… How could you suddenly have a Gift?”

“I did what no man could ever achieve.” The man grinned. “I made one!”

  
  
  



	7. Chapter 7

Jinhwan wrinkled his forehead when the car suddenly stopped moving. He was deep in his thoughts that when the car suddenly halted, he stumbled forward. “W-what happened? Sir?”

The taxi driver slowly turned his head to Jinhwan. “Jinani, what are you planning to do? Are you planning to go to the mansion and sacrifice yourself? Don’t you trust your parents?!”

It was Luhan’s voice, and by the looks of it, he was controlling the taxi driver with his Gift. Jinhwan gasped. They couldn't possibly understand what he’s going through. Something was happening to his parents, and he was sure about it. The way Dara was sending this signal of worry was upsetting him, and he was sure there’s something wrong. He wasn’t sure how he could possibly help but them, but he needed to be there.

Deep in his gut, he knows that he should be there. Or else he’ll regret everything.

“Luhan-hyung… You don’t understand! I… I need to be there!” Jinhwan answered, pleading to the older.

“Jinani! Listen to reason! What can you possibly do there?!” Luhan growled at him, making him flinch at the older’s voice.

“But hyung… hyung… my parents… I need to see my parents!” Jinhwan cried, begging the man.

“No! You’re coming back with us.” Was the last thing Jinhwan heard when he saw several people fall from the sky. His eyes widened when he saw the familiar faces staring back at him.

~~~

“You… You still tried to defy the laws of nature.” Jiyong said. The man just scoffed. 

“Laws of Nature? Do you really think that you’re just blessed to have such a Gift? The mere existence of Gifted people like you DEFY the VERY laws of Nature!” The man shouted, making Dara wince in fear. Jiyong could see her shaking, and he clenched his jaw while glaring at the guy.

Dara was a very special individual who carried an essential Gift. Her father, who stood before them, was a Normal who fell in love with Dara’s mother, who had one of the most important Gifts the world had. The Gift of Healing and Neutralization. They used to be a family. Yet upon Dara's birth, it was also her mother's death. From then on, everything changed.

Some say her father was driven to insanity for losing her mother. Some stated that his madness has always been there and that Dara’s mother was the only person who managed to change him. But only Dara knew the truth.

Her father wanted immortality, and with her mother’s gift, he managed to find the way to it, but once she died, he did everything to discover how to extract Gifts from Gifted individuals.

That was where Jiyong met Dara. He was an undercover agent who was trying to discover where the kidnapped Gifted were held. But upon meeting Dara, Jiyong made sure to take down her father’s hopes of acquiring other people’s Gifts.

He was supposed to be in prison, rotting there to his death. But seeing him now, Jiyong knew something else was at work.

“You don’t have to be so scared of me, my princess. Your old man’s been worried about you. How about we go home and--”

“I  _ am _ home! This IS my home!” Dara answered, despite her obvious shaking.

“Oh? You call this make-believe house a home? It’s nothing but Jiyong’s illusions. One of the many lies his Gift can fake.” The man said, but when he saw Jiyong’s glare, he started laughing. “But you know what? I should be thanking you, Dragon. I couldn’t possibly have done this without you.”

“What are you talking about?” Jiyong asked, looking lost at the older’s words.

“You see… I knew that you had a Gift. And with that, I ordered the blood samples taken from each employee that worked there before. Who knew that your blood could push this research beyond the limits that others have put in it? Your Gift helped me find what I was looking for all along.” The man smiled as he snapped his fingers, and the place was swamped with screens that showed images of people strapped on chairs with head devices covering their eyes. Jiyong and Dara looked around in terror as some screamed in horror, fear, and obvious panic.

“Ahhh… wonderful music, isn’t it?“ The man said, moving his hands like a conductor leading them like a musical. Jiyong gritted his teeth, glaring at the man. “What have you done to these people?!”

“I’ve taken their Gifts to create mine.” The man said, snapping his fingers again, and this time another screen appears in front of Jiyong and Dara, showing his physical body sitting on a throne with a crown on his head, smirking at them.

“Now… my little princess. Come to Daddy… and together… Let’s conquer the world!” The man laughed hysterically.

“I’ll never hand her over to you, Hyunsuk!” Jiyong answered, and Dara gathered all her courage to answer him too. “I’ll never agree with your evil conquest! I’d rather die than help you!”

The man suddenly stopped laughing, and all but one screen disappeared. They see him stand from his chair as he stopped laughing. Looking directly at them. “Too bad… I really did want you with me.” 

“But I guess I would have to kill you. Farewell, my princess.” Hyunsuk sent her a flying kiss before looking at Jiyong with glowing eyes. “Kill her with your own Gift.”

~~~ 

“Please… Jiwonie… Hanbinie… Please… Please, I beg you!” Jinhwan cried, knees on the pavement as he clutched their hands tightly. Chanyeol and Xiumin glanced at each other, guilt apparent on their faces. Their chests constricted while looking at the young one begging on his knees.

“Jinani…” Bobby called out, kneeling alongside Hanbin. “We… We need to go back. It’s not safe here.”

“No… You don’t understand… You don’t understand… I… I… I…” Jinhwan stuttered before coughing out a shriek and screaming in pain. Bobby and Hanbin’s eyes widen as they looked at him, panic written all over their faces.

“What’s going on? Hyung!” Hanbin asked, directing the question to Chanyeol, who looked troubled. The older man couldn't answer his question, same thing with Xiumin, who was gritting his teeth as if holding back his emotions.

“Can you just fucking tell us what’s going on?! Why does he need to go through this?!” Bobby complained, shouting at the older ones who kept their gaze away.

Jinhwan, in desperation, looked up at Bobby and Hanbin with glowing lavender eyes. “Bring me to my parents. NOW.”

The older Gifted couldn't believe their eyes the second Bobby and Hanbin stood up to look at them. They immediately cursed before changing their stance.

“Lu, we have a problem.” Xiumin whispered at the Gifted standing by.

The moment the two turned around, Hanbin was surrounded by  _ blue flames _ accompanied by Bobby’s  _ white-blue ice. _

~~~ 

Jiyong gained back his consciousness to see his own hand stretched out and strangling Dara midair. “Ji...” Dara called out as she tried her best to fight for her life.

It was apparent that she tried fighting back, but it was all in vain. The look on her face broke him into a frenzied panic. He immediately opened his hand, and Dara fell.

But before she could hit the ground, Jiyong stretched out his hand again to stop her fall and guide her towards him. He pulled his wife onto his lap, enclosing her body into his arms and finally releasing a sob he didn’t know he was holding back.

“Dee… Dee, please… Please don't… Don’t leave me…!” Jiyong sobbed as he rocked his wife’s body, tightening his embrace.

“Ji… I… love you...” Dara whispered under her breath as she tried to return her husband’s hug, but her hand fell limp. Falling and unable to reciprocate Jiyong’s hug.

And for the first time, Jiyong felt a knot inside his throat as a burning sensation filled his insides. “No! Dee! Don’t leave… Don’t!”

“How does it feel, Dragon? How does it feel when you’re not in control? This is what you did to my life.” Hyunsuk whispered, but loud enough for Jiyong to hear.

“You murderer… She’s your daughter!” Jiyong screamed as he stretched out his hand to control him, but the guy just shrugged his shoulders. “We’ve been through this a while ago, Dragon. You can’t control me. Not when I have all these Gifted individuals to fuel mine.” He smirked.

“Oh… You have guests. You’ve gained quite a number of rare Gifts. Tell me… What Gift does your child possess?” Hyunsuk grinned at him.

“You’ll never get my child! You’ll have to kill me before you can get him!” Jiyong shouted.

“And you really think I couldn't?” Hyunsuk smiled at him before snapping his fingers, and Jiyong blacked out.

~~~ 

Jinhwan ran towards his father’s office despite the piercing pain in his chest, followed closely by Bobby and Habin, who were still overflowing with power. The three slammed the doors open to see a man slit Jiyong’s throat before snapping his fingers and catching Jiyong’s face as he fell to his knees. When they saw someone in the room other than Jiyong and Dara, the two instinctively blocked Jinhwan from the man who killed his father.

“Look carefully at your child’s face. Say goodbye to him forever.” Hyunsuk laughed maniacally.

“No… No! No! No! No! NOOO!!!!” Jinhwan screamed before a shattering noise filled his ears. Bobby and Hanbin unconsciously moved to attack the man who killed the Dragon. To their dismay, the man disappeared and reappeared in front of Jinhwan.

“Come with me, child.” Hyunsuk ordered with eyes glowing at him.

Jinhwan looked up at the man as his hair color turned into the most majestic purple. His eyes glowed with fierce lavender as he looked up at the guy. “LEAVE!”

And with that one word, Hyunsuk’s apparition returned to his body, and he fell on his knees, gasping for air.

“Sir! Are you alright?!” One of his henchmen said.

“Those two pests…” Hyunsuk grinned before turning it turned into hysterical laughter. “They’ve created a perfect Gifted! I need that child!” Hyunsuk growled before barking orders, which caused chaos inside the institution.

“Get him… I need to find out what his Gift truly is… and get it.”


	8. Chapter 8

"Lu, we might have a problem," Xiumin whispered at the Gifted, who was on standing by.

The moment the two turned around, Hanbin was surrounded by towering blue flames accompanied by Bobby's white-blue ice. Even with a glance, Xiumin and Chanyeol knew that it would be futile to try and fight them.

"Oh, boy! This is not good." Chanyeol exclaimed as he looked at the other older gifted.

"Hanbin. Bobby. Snap out of it! You know why we can't go there too. This is a direct order from the Dragon himself!" Xiumin justified. However, it all fell on deaf ears as the two continuously moved forward with blazing flame and deathly cold ice.

"Bobby! Hanbin! Remember your goal! Your goal is to protect Jinhwan, and this is not it!" Chanyeol tried as well, but words didn’t seem to register. It sounded like static that needed to be pushed out of their minds, but they can’t seem to.

"I want the hyungs to step aside." Jinhwan declared, dark rich purple swaying with the wind as his eyes beaming in lavender hue.

The older Gifted gasped at the sight. This wasn’t the sweet and innocent Jinhwan they knew. Chanyeol immediately stepped closer to the younger, reaching out to him.

"Nani. Love. Listen to hyung, huh? We’re just trying to protect you, dear. It's the only thing we can do." Chanyeol tried to reason to the youngest smoothly. "You trust hyung, right?" He smiled as he swayed the resolve of Jinhwan, hoping that the youngest would listen.

"Is it working?" Luhan mentally asked Xiumin. The oldest gifted gritted his teeth as he let Chanyeol handle the three since he knew them better than him.

But Xiumin could see the doubt in Jinhwan’s eyes. It makes him wonder, does Chanyeol truly know them? Xiumin sighed with his mind in turmoil. Worry filling it and uncertainty playing inside it.

"Long shot, love. Jinhwan is glowing purple, and I don’t think it’s a good thing." Xiumin informed the other, who gasped with what he heard.

"I said… I want the hyungs to STEP ASIDE!" Jinhwan exclaimed, and the purple glow intensified. It wasn’t just Jinhwan. Even the aura around Hanbin and Bobby intensified into a brighter color, which froze the older gifted.

"Or… you can just help us." Dark purple eyes directed to every older Gifted in front of him. "Help us save my parents."

Xiumin knew, at the moment, that it would be impossible to sway Jinhwan’s mind. He glanced at Chanyeol, who seemed to be nodding unwillingly. He noticed that the other didn’t seem like himself as well. Turning to him with a spark of purple in his eyes. “Let’s help them.”

The oldest swallowed the lump that had grown in his throat. He immediately gritted his teeth as he heard another telepathic message from Luhan.  _ “Min, you have to agree with them for now. I don’t know what’s going on, but you can’t take all three of them, especially Hanbin, at that power level.” _

"Fine. It’s better than letting you three on your own. We’ll help you, Jinhwan!" Xiumin uttered before closing his eyes and exhaled in defeat. But he trusted Luhan's judgment and knew that it’s better to follow them than to fight. Decided on his plan, Xiumin looked at Jinhwan again.

"Jinani. We’ll help you… but you’ll have to do it on our terms. You three will stay behind us. Do you understand?" Xiumin uttered with worry still evident in his voice.

"Minie-Hyung is not lying?" Jinhwan asked as he looked directly to Xiumin's eyes, as his own flickered from purple to brown. "You'll really help me?" 

Xiumin held back his defiance and nodded. "Of course. Anything for you. You're hyung's favorite, right?" he cooed even more, seeing that he is slowly convincing the younger and that the violet aura started to diminish.

"Binnie!!!!! Jiwonnie!!!! Minie-hyung and the others are helping!!!! Let's go save my parents!" Jinhwan cheered in happiness.

And just like that, the two younger Gifted seemed to be awakened from their previous trance.

"So, Chanyeol. Was it a Gift that made those two bozos follow him blindly or their emotional attachment to Nani?" Xiumin spoke obvious bewilderment in his voice.

"I don't know exactly hyung. But I can kinda guess that... it is.” Chanyeol looked at his hand and furrowed his brows, thinking of something. “I’m hoping that I’m correct or else, we'll be blindly guessing."

\---

Jinhwan stood up, eyes wet with tears. He looked around, and he saw his parents lying lifelessly on the floor. He felt empty, like a useless son who simply let his parents die right in front of him.

He was alone now, parents unable to help him and guide him or even love him.

He was useless. Unable to help his parents from getting murdered despite the feeling that pulled him into the mansion. He was nothing more than a burden who couldn’t get anything done. He was a Normal, and he couldn't even do anything to help his parents. He was truly useless.

Slowly, Jinhwan reached for Dara's hand, trying to wake his mother despite the obvious pale body that lies on the floor.

"Omma... he's no longer here. You and Appa can wake up now, huh. You're scaring me… Please wake up already." Jinhwan hiccupped as his voice trembled while he looked at his mother’s body.

His gaze shifted to Chanyeol, eyes desperate with a tinge of lavender slowly creeping out from his iris. "C-Channie hyung, tell Omma to wake up, huh? It's a really cruel joke, right?! Scaring their kid like this. This is so unfair," He laughed faintly as he choked on a sob.

"Jinani. Look at me." Bobby tried, worry laced into the whisper as he looked at Jinhwan. Hands-on the younger’s cheeks as he wiped the tears that didn’t seem to have any end. "Look at Jiwonie, huh? See? My eyes are blue now." Bobby tried to distract Jinhwan, but he was obviously failing when Jinhwan pulled away from him.

Hanbin, however, felt this dread eating at him at the sight of Jinhwan. He could see a reflection of himself on the younger, and he couldn’t help but grip his hand into a fist. He knew how it felt to see your family dead, and it’s something he doesn't want Jinhwan to ever feel, but here they were. Despite Bobby near the younger, Hanbin overstepped the Ice Gifted and knelt in front of Jinhwan before pulling him into a tight embrace.

Jinhwan was surprised when Hanbin pulled him, but the warmth that the latter emitted comforted him. His hands immediately found its way around Hanbin, holding him tightly. “It’s okay to cry, my angel… Just let it out.”

As soon as Hanbin whispered this, Jinhwan started bawling. None of the Gifted, who were present, can contain their emotions. They’ve never seen the younger breakdown like this before, and they can all agree that it was the most heartbreaking thing they have ever seen.

Hanbin can feel his shirt getting damp, but that it was the least of his concerns, his hold on the younger tightened, and his lips continued to utter comforting words that he hoped he heard when he was alone and afraid. 

It bothered him so much that his angel is broken and in the worst possible way. He can't do anything about it, but he was sure that he’d do something, anything, to help Jinhwan feel better.

On the other hand, Bobby was feeling miserable. He clutched his hoodie as he stared at Hanbin’s back while listening to Jinhwan’s sobbing sounds.

He felt completely useless.

For the longest time that he had his Gift, for the first time, he hated it. He hated the fact that despite being able to control it, he was still unable to protect Jinhwan and the people who raised and helped him.

What’s the use of a Gift if he can’t even protect the people that truly mattered in his life? What’s the use of his Gift if the one he loves still experiences this kind of pain?

  
  
  


\---

  
  


After what had happened, all the other older Gifted members made sure to protect the mansion as much as they possibly can. With Xiumin, Chanyeol, and Sehun, they made a mist around the mansion to make sure that it’s impossible to find. Kyungsoo built a dome around the mansion, making sure that it’s covered along with a maze around it so no one can enter it. Aside from the dome, maze, and the mist, Luhan also made sure to place illusions so whoever tries to trespass loses themselves in it.

Jiyong and Dara’s bodies were taken away by the older Gifted, stating that the Dragon ordered them to preserve their bodies so that no one can take it and extract their Gifts, which could cause problems in the future.

Jinhwan was adamant about staying with them at first, but Baekhyun managed to convince him that he needs to trust the older Gifted because they still need to take care of him.

After taking care of the mansion, they all transferred to their makeshift hideout that the Dragon has prepared for the others who have been receiving missions. It wasn’t as big as the mansion they have, but it should be enough for everyone to live in.

As they all settled, the 11 older Gifted gathered in a meeting room when the younger ones had fallen asleep. They needed to discuss what to do next.

"That's all I know. Jiyong-hyung was so secretive of all of these. I’m honestly surprised he still told me parts of it but… I know that the only reason they told me this was to make sure that Jinhwan is guarded and well cared for. Plus…" Chanyeol trailed, glancing at Kris. “The only plan he told me was about the Cellar.” He explained to the rest. Kris was obviously shaken by what he heard while the others in his team also gave him meaningful glances.

"So basically, Dara-noona and Jiyong-hyung knew that Jinhwan is Gifted but was just unsure of what exactly it is," Kyungsoo confirmed, earning a nod from Chanyeol.

"From what I understand and basing it on what we saw… Jinhwan is another case of a very rare gift.” Chanyeol stated, glancing at Xiumin, who only looked back at him. “I know it’s probably the same with Bobby and Hanbin. I'm sure Xiumin-hyung already figured it out by now."

"No. That Bobby kid has the same gift as mine, but his is… how do I say this… ah. It's like seeing the spirit of ice in his eyes. It's haunting and scary. But Jinhwan… His seems different." The oldest explained. 

"I feel the same with Hanbin. I mean, I'm a Fire user as well, but Hanbin's gift is just … powerful. He has Blue Flames but fiery Red eyes. It’s very unusual, to be honest." Chanyeol supplied.

“I think that Jinhwan may also be like his father and mother whose Gift is one of a kind.” Luhan suddenly uttered, earning everyone’s attention.

“What do you mean?” Kris asked, brows furrowed and eyes questioning.

“Min mentioned a while ago that Jinhwan was glowing in purple. I knew by then that he was using a Gift, especially since he managed to pull that kind of power out of Bobby and Hanbin, but there was something else…” Luhan explained, looking at Chanyeol. “I know you noticed it, too, because you suddenly agreed with him.”

Xiumin’s eyes widened when he remembered, “Yeah! You suddenly agreed to him! I really thought I’d be next. But… why wasn’t I affected?”

“You and I were in constant communication, and I was making sure that nothing happened to you, so you were under my protection.” Xiumin donned pink cheeks when he heard what Luhan said, nodding with a small smile. “But despite my protection, I felt like something was trying to get to you. I learned a whole lot from Jiyong-hyung, and he’s the only one who’s managed to break my protective telepathic shield. So I think that Jinhwan might also have that kind of Gift.”

“Whatever his Gift is, we’ll have to figure it out and somehow train him to use it because we can’t risk him not knowing anything. He might even be dangerous rather than help.” Suho uttered, which made everyone heave a huff.

"We'll have to figure out everything eventually, but for now, we have to train those kids to be able to control their Gifts better. We have to make sure that they can manage independently, especially now that the enemy saw Jinhwan. Because if they targeted his parents, he might be the next target." Kris elaborated, everyone eventually nodded at his words. Knowing full well that he was right.

“But knowing Jiyong-hyung… there’s gotta be more to this. It can’t be just that.” Sehun stated, looking around the table. “I mean… Hasn’t he told any of you anything?”

“He constantly tells me that the truth isn’t always what the eyes see. There’s always a side that is hidden beneath every word, so don’t forget to listen.” Kai said. “I’ve always wondered what he meant by that.”

“It’s always a puzzle when Jiyong-hyung talks. It’s like he wants you to figure it out piece… by… piece.” Suho answered, slowly realizing something which the others didn’t seem to.

With sighs going around, Lay noticed that Baekhyun has been keeping to himself and staring at nothing. "How is Jinan, Baek?"

Baekhyun flinched, surprised to be called. He pulled himself together and simply smiled. Chanyeol narrowed his eyes at his lover, seeing that sadness in his eyes despite the smile that had left his lips.

"Still sleeping. I don't know what will happen as soon as he wakes up… but… we need to keep an eye on him." The light user explained.

“He’s probably harboring hatred… isn’t he?” Kai suddenly questioned, and with the way Baekhyun looked away, everyone knew why.

“Nevertheless, we’ll have to do something to gain back his trust. Right?” Chen chimed, and Sehun immediately backed with, “We’ll have to or else we’ll just endanger everyone.”

\---

Jinhwan is sitting on his bed while staring outside the window when Baekhyun enters the room. The older immediately noticed that he was silent, unlike the usual cheerful good mornings and that beautiful smile that greeted him. What welcomed the older was a gloomy and unwelcoming aura coming from the younger.

"Hi, love… How are you feeling?" Baekhyun probed but was answered by a deafening silence and a blank stare. The older bit his lip, still wanting to try his best despite the brewing worry inside his chest.

"You know, the kids are making a ruckus outside. Junhoe and Kyungsoo are fighting again.” Baekhyun chuckled awkwardly, “You should have seen Junhoe's face when his own trainer burrowed him down the ground." He cheerfully shared as he fixed the younger's hair but to no avail. 

Baekhyun sighed as he looked at Jinhwan, his chest constricting as he looked at Jinhwan. He felt a tang of guilt inside of him, knowing full well that one of the reasons why the younger looked devastated was that they stopped him.

And before a new attempt left Baekhyun lips, a knock suddenly resounded from the door. He looked, and once it opened, in came Hanbin.

“Hey…” Baekhyun called out, the younger nodding at him. Baekhyun bit his lips before looking away. The way that the younger Gifted seemed to be avoiding them was too obvious, and he couldn’t help but feel pained about it.

He sighed before smiling at Hanbin and excusing himself from them. He leaned in and kissed Jinhwan’s forehead before whispering an apology.

When he left, Hanbin carefully sat on the bed while looking at Jinhwan.

He can feel the sadness in his angel's eyes, and it broke his heart. If only he could take all the sadness in Jinhwan and crush it all into him but he isn’t here to wallow with him. He is there to let Jinhwan know that he’s there for him.

Hanbin reached for the younger’s hands and placed a stem of a beautiful pink carnation on it. Upon seeing the flower in his hands, Jinhwan looked at Hanbin with curiosity in his eyes for the first time since the incident.

"You've been here for days, my angel." Hanbin smiled as he caressed the younger's hand. "I think it's time for you to visit them. Give this to them. I know how your mom loves flowers." 

Jinhwan's eyes started to be glassy as tears began to fall. Hanbin gently held Jinhwan's cheeks and wiped the tears that seemed to go on forever.

With his free hand, Hanbin handed another stem of flower to Jinhwan, and this time it's a beautiful white heathen. 

"Now, my angel, this one… can you give it to him? It's a promise I'm making to him." Hanbin explained while looking at Jinhwan's glassy eyes.

"A promise that I, Kim Hanbin, will protect his little prince no matter what it takes." he said, full of sincerity as he kissed Jinhwan's eyes. “I know I’m not as powerful as he is… and I may not be able to do a great job… but even with my life, I vow to be with you. So… will you stay by my side too?”

Jinhwan, still in tears, hugged Hanbin tightly and, for the first time, spoke.

"I will." Jinhwan whispered.

  
  
\---

Several more days passed, and the other younger Gifted were sent into a brutal amount of training. Making each other tired every night whenever they get to their rooms. Aside from Jinhwan, who has been constantly under Luhan’s watchful eyes, the others were paired to learn how to merge their powers.

With the twins, who've grown by each other’s side since the day of their birth, they were split apart and paired with others to learn how to cooperate with the others.

Meanwhile, Bobby and Hanbin were paired together. Which the two think is the most ridiculous thing ever. But Chanyeol and Xiumin were very adamant in teaching them how to cooperate with each other. Despite their continuous complaints, the two realized why this was a needed set-up.

“Fire… is supposed to be something that Ice never goes near to. But…” Xiumin pauses, opening his palm and presenting a large snowflake turning around his hand. “It also becomes a powerful weapon with fire by its side.”

Xiumin looks at Chanyeol, and he nods. The snowflake turned bigger and bigger, and as it grew bigger, Chanyeol suddenly blew a flamethrower towards the center of the snowflake and successfully created a thick fog.

Bobby and Hanbin stepped back, hitting each other’s back as they wearily waited for the older Gifted. “When fighting with your opponents, you have to make sure that you have a plan.”

They heard a voice from the fog. “This is crazy… How are we supposed to cooperate like this?!” Hanbin asked, voice stricken with impatience.

“That’s what you should learn to do yourselves. Or else…” They heard Chanyeol’s voice, but somehow they couldn’t find where it came from.

All of a sudden Hanbin sensed a fireball thrown their way. He immediately pulled Bobby to duck, and the guy was slammed to the ground. “What the heck are you trying to do?!”

“Saving your life!” Hanbin shot back at him.

“This is stupid.” Bobby uttered his words more to himself than to anyone.

They suddenly felt something wet around them, and soon the ground turned into ice. “Fuck…” Bobby uttered, holding the ice that had formed on his feet and removing it. Hanbin, on the other hand, melted the ice from his feet.

But the ice came back, and they continued to remove it. Despite trying their best to remove it, the ice still came back continuously.

“We told you… You’ll have to work together.” Xiumin’s voice was heard.

Soon, another fireball was thrown their way. Hanbin managed to hit it with his own fireball and create smoke that thickened the fog. But soon after, several fireballs were thrown at them. Bobby and Hanbin immediately got rid of the fireballs, but as soon as they did, icicles were shot right after and managed to hit them.

They both grunted, falling on their knees to the ground, which immediately froze their legs. Immediately after getting frozen, the two saw fireballs flying towards them again, and what surprised them was inside the fireballs were ice-balls, and they weren’t even melting.

The moment they were about to get hit, a wall suddenly appeared in front of them. The fire coated ice balls disappeared, and the fog lifted, showing the others with them.

“There were more than two of you?” Bobby questioned, looking at the older Gifted who worked together.

“Yes. And that’s what you guys are supposed to do. Incorporate all of your Gifts together to win over whatever opponent you have. If Kyungsoo didn’t raise that wall, you both would’ve been gravely injured.” Chanyeol stated, arms crossed by his chest.

“And if Suho didn’t incorporate with my ice, then you both would be in more danger than you are now. You see, we all know our Gifts, and we work around each other instead of working alone.” Xiumin explained.

“You guys… need a whole lot more learning to do,” Kyungsoo said, sighing at them.

Bobby and Hanbin looked away. Seemingly provoke to train even more.

“If you really want to protect Jinhwan… Then I suggest you two start working with your difference before you can even manage to work with the other’s Gifts.” Suho says.

\---

Jinhwan heard a knock on the door. He glanced at it, and when he thought it was going to be Baekhyun bothering him again, he was about to tell him that he wanted to be alone. But he was surprised to see Kris’ head poke into the room. “Hey.”

“K-Kris-hyung…” Jinhwan uttered, surprised to see the older again.

Jinhwan noticed that the older has been checking on him for days, but the older was mostly there during the night to make sure that he didn’t need someone with him before he slept. It was odd to see Kris that afternoon.

“I just wanted to check up on you. The others have started their training, and I’m sure Luhan has been making you go through a lot.” Kris said, entering the room and pulling a chair to sit beside the younger’s bed.

“He’s… doing what’s best for me...” Jinhwan whispered, gaze falling on his blanket.

“Do you believe that? Or do you still question our intentions?” Jinhwan whipped his head up to look at Kris. He could see the worry in the older’s eyes with longing that didn’t seem to be for him. He wrinkled his forehead before shaking his head. “You wouldn’t be helping me if I didn’t need it.”

“You’re right… But… Do you really think we’re helping you? The way you answer me… I know there’s still doubt inside you.” Kris said, eyes looking away.

The younger bit his lower lip as he fiddled with his blanket, looking at it intently since he couldn’t even look at Kris. “T-That’s…”

“You… may not know this, but… we really didn’t know much about what was going to happen. We were told that a time would come that we’d all have to protect you. That we’d have to make sure never to let you see them. And despite knowing that… we still failed to do it.” Kris sighed as he looked at the younger.

“We failed to fulfill our promise to the Dragon. You were always his priority, and that also resonated with us because we’ve been with you since your birth, and we all care for you. Jinhwan… You’re… not the only one with questions.” Kris said, almost like a whisper to himself, but Jinhwan heard it clearly. “There are things that I want to know too… But right now, I know that we’ve all been too concentrated on what our job should be that a whole lot of us have forgotten to ask you the right questions.”

Jinhwan’s eyes lifted to see Kris with a small smile on his lips but eyes looking at him with something he just couldn’t explain.

“How are you?”


	9. Chapter 9

Kris sighed when he saw Bobby and Hanbin fighting again. The two haven't been able to resolve their differences and he’s getting really tired of it. “I don’t think there’s anything else we can do about that.” Kris said, gritting his teeth.

“Let them go at it for a bit more.” Chanyeol uttered, watching as the two continued to bicker and soon their powers shot out of their hands. Each of them prepared to attack each other.

“And what’s the fight about this time?” Xiumin questioned with a groan, obviously tired of their continuous fights.

“Doesn’t make sense to me why they’re always fighting. I thought they both liked Jinhwan. Shouldn’t they be working together to become stronger to be able to protect our Jinani?” Lay questioned, looking at the others.

Aside from Chanyeol and Xiumin, Lay, Kris and Chen are helping to train Bobby and Hanbin. But the two have been bickering nonstop inside the fog that Chanyeol and Xiumin created. With the thermal sensors that Lay created for them, they all kept watching from a good distance.

“Kris-hyung, I think you should go in there soon.” Chanyeol nudged and the older just sighed. “Don’t hurt him too much.”

“Well, here goes!” Chen says with a big smirk as he kneels on the floor and opens his palm to create an electric current that rendered Bobby paralyzed. At that same time, when Hanbin attacked the other, Kris copied Bobby and transformed into him and successfully stopping Hanbin.

“Cool off Hanbin. We won’t accomplish anything if you keep on getting such a hothead.” Kris uttered with a voice and appearance like Bobby. He also had ice around his hand, which he copied from Bobby, that took Hanbin’s fire fueled punch.

Hanbin was taken back when the Fake-Bobby(Kris) suddenly stopped him.

“You should say that to yourself too. I want to do this and get back to the older Gifted too but if you don’t cooperate with me then it’s no use!” Hanbin fired back, anger and irritation evident in his voice.

Fake-Bobby(Kris) sighed before looking away. “Look… I hate this as much as you do. But Jinhwan… I’ll protect him and if you won’t help me then you should just disappear.”

“I’m here to protect Jinhwan too! Don’t think you’re the only one who can protect him!” Hanbin answered back, voice raised as flames started to coat his body. Fake-Bobby(Kris) narrowed his eyes when he noticed that Hanbin’s red flame flickered into blue at his wrist section. He looked noticed a bracelet sitting on it.

“If you really want to protect Jinhwan… then you should train some more.” Fake-Bobby(Kris) stated, raising his hand to point at Hanbin. Several icicles appeared around the older and they were all sent flying to Hanbin. Each of them successfully hitting him on vital points that rendered him paralyzed.

Fake-Bobby(Kris) sighed before stepping close to Hanbin and shaking his head. “You really ought to know your teammates.” Kris said before he turned into Hanbin.

When Hanbin saw the change, his eyes widened and immediately asked where Bobby was. If only he could talk.

Fake-Hanbin(Kris) then decided to go to Bobby and push him out of Chen’s electric paralysis. Bobby gasped as he looked up at Fake-Hanbin(Kris). “You alright?”

“I don’t need your help.” Bobby fired, pushing the older’s hand that he reached out for Bobby. “Look Bobby… I’m here to train with you and I can’t possibly do it if you don’t cooperate with me!” Fake-Hanbin(Kris) stated.

“I’ll protect Jinhwan on my own so stay the fuck away!” Bobby uttered but he soon grunted when he felt something fiery touch his lower back. He immediately glared at Fake-Hanbin(Kris).

“You fucking—”

“If you can’t even defend yourself from me… What else are you even good for?” Fake-Hanbin(Kris) said. He then shot a fire ball up in the sky and the fog slowly dissipated.

When the fog disappeared, Bobby’s eyes widened and he gasped when he saw Hanbin on his knees not far from them while another Hanbin was beside him with his hand burning his back.

“You both are going to talk about all of this. Because you’re not doing any good. You’re not going to protect anyone if you can’t even protect yourselves.” Kris stated as he slowly changed back into himself.

“You don’t know what you’re capable of. What do you think Jinhwan will say when he sees you both like this? You said you’ll protect him but you can’t even swallow your pride to ask for help from others. You can’t win every battle alone! Stop acting like brats and actually do something to improve yourselves instead of fucking everything up!” Kris gritted, making the younger Gifted look away. The older Gifted ones, on the other hand, looked with worry at their leader. Chen and Xiumin bit their lip while Chanyeol glared at him.

“Go talk to each other. And if it helps, visit Jinhwan to cool both of your heads. Protecting someone isn’t as easy as it looks or as it sounds. You don’t rely on your own because you’ll fucking fail.” Kris shot, tone filled with venomous rage as he turned and walked away. Xiumin was fast to run alongside Kris while Chanyeol shook his head before following.

“That’s it for today.” Chen stated, turning around to follow the others.

\---

Hanbin sighed before knocking on Jinhwan’s door. He wearily pushed it and entered with Bobby following right behind him. They both looked at the bed to see Jinhwan lying on the bed, asleep.

The two sighed before pulling chairs to sit beside Jinhwan’s bed.

“Kris-hyung got us bad.” Hanbin uttered, glancing at the other who’s hood is covering his face. Hanbin sighed out, biting his lip. “I want to protect Jinhwan. I want to make sure that he doesn’t have to go through anything like that again. I… Please… Lend me your strength.” Hanbin says with worry laced in his voice.

Bobby didn’t answer him, despite his probing. But he noticed that the room temperature did seem to go lower as if Bobby had been contemplating something. Hanbin looked at the other, pushing all the pride he had to face Bobby properly.

“Bobby… Would you please let me know what I need to do to get you to work with me?” Hanbin asked. “I’ll do anything… if it means I can protect Jinhwan… Then j-just tell me what I need to do and—”

“It’s…” Bobby uttered, cutting Hanbin from completing his sentence. “It’s something I need to work on myself. I know that we need to work together and I know that we need to prepare for the worst… But there’s things I need to fix.”

“Fix? Why? What’s wrong?” Hanbin asked but the other just stood from his chair when he noticed Jinhwan stirring from his sleep.

“Bobby?” Hanbin questioned but the other just walked out of the room.

“Bobby…?” Jinhwan called out and Hanbin turned to look at the younger who was rubbing his eyes, just waking up when Hanbin called out Bobby’s name. “Was Bobby here?”

“Yeah… He… just left.” Hanbin answered and Jinhwan’s face fell. Hanbin noticed it immediately and immediately held Jinhwan’s hand. “Is something wrong?”

“I… I haven’t seen him for a while now. I know he visits me because when I wake up he leaves ice roses on the night stand… But… he never shows himself. I miss him already.” Jinhwan says in a whispered tone.

Hanbin just glances back at the door and sighs. “He’ll come. I’m sure of it. He’s just working on some things.”

\---

Bobby punched the punching bag and successfully tearing through. He looked at his fist and sighed when he noticed the ice around it. He held the punching bag and knocked his head on it while mumbling several profanities.

“Something bothering you?” Bobby snapped his head back to see Kris standing at the entrance of the training hall. His arms crossed across his chest while leaning on the supporter.

The Ice user sighed before looking away. “I’m not sure.” He answered before punching the punching bag again and this time, the thing flew to the other side of the room trapped into an ice glacier. Bobby gritted his teeth when he saw what he did, closing his eyes before huffing.

“I’m sure you know that your Gift is directly connected to your emotions. It seems like you’re letting your Gift swallow you whole.” The older Gifted stated, walking towards Bobby.

“I know… I know I’m supposed to have control on mine… I know I’m supposed to have the best control over my Gift among all of us but… But what’s the point of being able to control my Gift when I can’t even protect the one that’s most precious to me?!” Bobby slammed, turning to the older before he gasped.

The moment he turned, he was shocked to see the Dragon standing right in front of him. He knew, at the back of his head, that Kris’ Gift can copy anyone and their Gifts as long as he’s seen them and he’s seen them use it. But even though he knows this, his rational thinking was crushed down on the floor and broken.

Tears slowly fell from his eyes and his legs caved into kneeling in front of the Dragon. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry I wasn’t able to protect Jinhwan… I’m sorry I couldn’t even help him… or comfort him. I’m sorry… I failed you.”

Kris, who changed his form into the Dragon, saw the turmoil that Bobby had inside of him. The ever continuous storm that ate at him and pushed him into submission. The Ice Gift eating at him and freezing everything due to his guilt stabbing him.

“Bobby… Ji-hyung wouldn’t have trusted Jinhwan with you if he didn’t think you could do it. The way I see it… You’re blaming yourself for something you can easily change.” Kris stated, slowly turning back into himself.

Due to the strong Gift that Jiyong had, Kris could only transform into the Dragon for an hour a week. If he tried to do more than that, the Dragon’s Gift could easily consume him even if his Transformation Gift could only copy 75% of the original ones. The only downside to his Gift is that he could never copy Normals.

“What am I supposed to do hyung? How do I accept the fact that I’m useless?” Bobby asked, gripping his hair as he bawled into this pain-filled cry. The older Gifted sighed as he stepped closer to Bobby.

“Bobby… When was the last time you slept?” Kris asked when he noticed that the younger had dark circles around his eyes.

“Hyung… How do I help Jinhwan?” Bobby asked, pain leaking out of him and not even hearing what Kris said.

“Bobby… You need to rest. Or else something worse is gonna happen to you.” Kris said but Bobby didn’t seem to be listening. It seems that Kris opened the door to Bobby’s trauma and if that wasn’t enough, showing Jiyong to the younger triggered it.

“Luhan, I need Luhan’s Gift.” Kris mumbled as he turned into Luhan. He reached out his hand to hold Bobby’s head and the younger Gifted finally looked up to him.

“Hyung… help me.”

Was the last thing Bobby said before he blacked out.

\---

“How’s Jinhwan?” Hanbin looked behind him just as he closed the door to Jinhwan’s room. Chanyeol pushed himself off the wall to walk with Hanbin.

“He’s… better? I think he’s still going through a lot but he’s smiling again.” Hanbin said before sighing. “But he’s worried about Bobby… It looks like he hasn’t visited yet.”

“I’ve seen him stay in the training hall. I tried talking to him but he kept to himself and only answered with a few words.” Chanyeol said. “You know… you guys should really talk to each other.”

“I’m trying hyung… There’s nothing more important to me than Jinhwan but he’s making it hard for me.” Hanbin answered with a dejected expression on his face.

The older Gifted bit his lips as they turned to the corner. That hallway had big windows that showed the garden outside with a huge Wisteria Tree in the middle that coated the gardens in a beautiful lavender light. Chanyeol had to stop and admire the color of it.

“You know… Xiumin-hyung and I didn’t get along well before… In fact, we always fought each other to the point where we’d almost kill each other.” Chanyeol started which piqued the younger one’s interest. “Xiumin-hyung was always so silent, so quiet and I always hated that about him. it's like he’s always planning to do something and I didn’t like that fact that he’s always so calm so centered. I didn’t like seeing him so unaffected but when Kris-hyung told us that we need to talk… Xiumin-hyung told me that he hated me for being too loud, for being too much and for being the exact opposite of him.”

“Did you fight again?” Hanbin asked.

“Well.. yeah. But that fight was something that helped us. Because by then we started understanding each other. I was getting insistent on him being more free while he just wanted me to be less wild. I think the biggest factor that helped us get along is the people who we treasured.” Chanyeol stated.

“What do you mean?” Hanbin asked, curious about what it was.

“I’m sure you know that Baekhyun is the person that I treasure the most… Just as Xiumin-hyung treasures Luhan-hyung. They’re the only ones who understood us and despite our persistent fights… stayed by our side and helped us realize that there’s actually no reason to fight.” Chanyeol said as he poked on the window to trace the wisteria branches that were dangling in the garden. “But most importantly… Jiyong-hyung told us that we needed to settle our differences by talking to each other. Knowing our own weaknesses will result in knowing what to do in order to strengthen each other.”

“But how am I supposed to do something like that when he refuses to talk to me?” Hanbin asked, looking at Chanyeol with worry written all over his face.

“That’s a tough question but… the only thing I can tell you is that you just have to talk.”

\---

Bobby woke up to several beeping sounds and the view of an IV drip hanging from an IV pole. He immediately held his head before looking around, checking if they brought him to the hospital.

“Still in the hideout.” Bobby furrowed his brows before looking, seeing Luhan standing at a safe distance alongside Lay and Kris.

“Feeling much better?” Lay asks, stepping closer to him to check his eyes and vital signs.

“What… happened?” Bobby squeaked.

“Thanks.” Kris said to Luhan and Lay, the two nodding before leaving the room. Kris immediately sat on the chair beside the bed before looking at Bobby. “You fainted. I think you overworked yourself too much so… your body gave in.”

“I…” Bobby looked away, visibly shaken when he slowly remembered what happened. He felt his insides twist and turn as if wanting to punch itself out but he hasn’t had a proper meal for a while so even if he did try to, nothing would come out.

“I heard you’ve been skipping meals… and your therapy.” Kris questioned, eyes focused on the younger’s face. Bobby couldn’t even look at the older, knowing that he’s done both.

“I’m not even going to ask you why you’re skipping meals… but I gotta ask why you’re skipping the therapy.”

Bobby winced at the tone Kris used on him. Knowing that the older was concerned about him was really heartwarming but it was also worrisome. He wonders why the older was there to question him when he knows that he should be elsewhere. He was the leader of the older Gifted and he didn’t want to be a bother.

“You’re never going to get out of that mentality if you don’t talk to someone about it. I’m probably not the best one to talk to about what you feel but… I’ve seen what you’re hiding. So there’s no need to keep it from me.” Kris stated.

Bobby immediately looked up at the older, curiosity filled in his eyes as if questioning him how he could possibly know but then he remembered that Kris had changed into Jiyong and with that he knows that the older had seen what’s inside his mind. Just like Jiyong’s own Gift, he was sure that the older one had already read through him.

“Uncle Ji instructed me to take care of Jinhwan… To never leave his side and make sure that no matter what, I’ll be there to help him. But I’m useless… I couldn’t protect him and I couldn’t even comfort him. Uncle Ji trusted me with Jinhwan but I… I failed him.” Bobby said, eyes shifting back down on the blanket as it turned glassy.

“You… truly love Jinhwan not just because of what Jiyong-hyung said but because of what you feel. You shouldn’t think that you’re useless when in fact… you’re more powerful than you think you are.”

“I’m not… I’m not.”

Bobby chanted, as if Kris’ words didn’t even reach him. The older sighed before tapping Bobby’s shoulder. “You can’t wait around forever to decide because right now we don’t have much time and we don’t know when they’ll strike us. So we need to be prepared. So I suggest that you go through the therapy that Luhan is offering. Amongst everyone here, he’s the closest there is to Jiyong-hyung so I’m sure he’ll understand.”

Bobby bit his lip as he nodded. Kris could only sigh before patting his shoulder again. “Take a rest for now. We’ll resume training tomorrow after you go to therapy.”

\---

The training was another failure, but this time there was another brewing storm aside from Bobby and Hanbin’s petty fights. For the past few days, Chanyeol has been noticing Kris’ increase in visits to Jinhwan’s room.

He was already getting quite suspicious of the older’s movements but when he saw him with Bobby and Xiumin it ignited a fire inside him that he didn’t want to be lit.

He noticed how the older has never approached Hanbin to help him yet he’s been by Bobby’s side.

He soon concluded that there was something about Kris that he needed to be wary of and despite Baekhyun telling him to let it go there was something in his gut that was telling him he should just confront the older.

He felt his insides churn when he heard the twins talking to each other one day.

“Are you sure? Hmmm… That’s unsettling.” Yunhyeong uttered as he grumbled. “I mean… Kris-hyung doesn’t seem to be that type of guy.”

“How would we even know? We haven’t known them like the others. I haven’t seen Jinani that close to the other older Gifted after the incident. Kris-hyung seems to be the only one who manages to make him feel like himself nowadays.“ Chanwoo said before sighing. “Besides, you saw the way he looked at Jinani!”

“Yeah… You have a point. If I didn’t know any better I’d think he likes our Jinani.”

Chanyeol bit his lip as he listened to the conversation and decided that it’s about time to talk to Kris.

That night, Chanyeol cornered Kris in the training hall to talk. Baekhyun made sure to go along with his lover to do the talk, just to make sure that Chanyeol didn’t make a fool of himself, a.k.a. try to fight Kris.

“Why do you suddenly want to talk?” Kris asked, eyes focused on Chanyeol while Baekhyun stood just behind his lover.

“It’s about Jinhwan.”

“What about him?”

“I heard some rumors that you’re… starting to look at him differently.”

Baekhyun gasped as his eyes widened when he heard what Chanyeol said. He immediately looked at the older who seemed unfazed by the words that the Fire Gifted uttered.

“Do you hear yourself right now?” Kris asked, brows starting to furrow as Chanyeol stood his ground.

Meanwhile, just outside the meeting room, Bobby and Hanbin were listening to the conversation. The two were supposed to practice but they heard Chanyeol’s agitated voice instead. They were just about to leave when they heard the older ones talking about Jinhwan.

“Yeah I do. And I’m starting to wonder about a lot of things.”

“Like what?”

“Like why wouldn't you let him train? He’s the main objective of the enemy right now and if we all fail he needs to know how to defend himself. HE won’t be able to do that if he doesn’t know how to use his Gift!” Chanyeol exclaimed, even making Baekhyun wince at the tone of his voice.

“You don’t understand and you won’t understand. All you’re trying to do is hurt him even more.” Kris answered but the younger just scoffed at him.

“You’re the one who doesn’t seem to understand that we’re running out of time!”

With gritted teeth and patience thrown out the window, Kris took a step forward to challenge Chanyeol. “Have you seen him?! Have you looked at him?! Have any of you looked him in the eye to see the pain that’s in them?! You want him to train, you want him to control his Gift and you want him to learn how to defend himself but have you asked him what he wants to do?! When was the last time you’ve seen him smile?!”

Chanyeol clenched his jaw with what he heard. He knows that they’ve all been really strict towards Jinhwan but he knows that it’s for the younger’s own good. He knows that he needs to make sure that Jinhwan can protect himself because Jiyong wasn’t there to do it for them anymore.

“If we don’t train him to be able to use his Gift, then his smile isn’t the only thing we’re going to lose. So stop worrying about his smile and actually start worrying about him controlling his Gift!” Chanyeol stated.

“Chanyeol...” Baekhyun uttered, holding his lover’s arm. There was already too much tension in the room and he was sure that Kris was also at his limit.

“Just because Ji-hyung isn’t here anymore… doesn’t mean that we should let him lose that smile. That boy’s smile... is the only saving grace for his friends. So don’t tell me not to worry about it because without that smile, they’re all going to crumble.” There was venom in Kris’ voice and Chanyeol hated that the older was still trying to push his buttons.

He felt his insides churn in anger and words slipped out of his lips without any filter. “You’re projecting your love to Jinhwan but no matter what you do he is NOT Tao!”

Baekhyun gasped at what Chanyeol said. He immediately stood between the two, pushing Chanyeol away from Kris.

The oldest among them had a glimmer of pain in his eyes but no words escaped his lips. It was a moment too late when Chanyeol realized that he crossed a dangerous line. Just when he was about to apologize, Kris turned into Kai and transported him away from the place.

“Are you insane?! Why the hell would you say something like that to Kris?!” Baekhyun exploded, looking at his lover who was too dumbfounded by his own idiocy.

“I’m sorry… I got… real mad and...” Chanyeol cursed under his breath as his hand reached for his head, massaging his temples.

And just outside the doors, two souls felt conflict within their hearts after what they’ve heard.

But there was a statement that rang in their heads over and over without meaning it to. 

_ “You’re projecting your love to Jinhwan!” _

Clenching their fists, there was something that brought them into a fit of conviction.

  
  



	10. Chapter 10

“Hey love, how are you?” Baekhyun asked as soon as he entered the young Gifted’s room, and like always, he was answered by silence.

Hurt but still not willing to give up, he sat on Jinhwan’s bed while he pulled out a snack from his sleeves.

“Look!” the light user beamed. “I was able to sneak in your favourite snack! But don’t tell anyone okay. It’s our little secret! It’s so tough to bring this to you, you know….”

“Baekkie hyung” Jinhwan cut Baekhyun’s litany that completely caught the other off guard.

Baekhyun tried not to cry. It’s been so long since he heard Jinhwan call him like that or even talk to him. Guilt is eating him from inside but now is not the time for that. With a smile on his face he stroked the younger’s hair, waiting but scared of what he’d say. Will he hate him? Blame him for everything? Curse him? Push him away? All these questions got Baekhyun on the edge.

“Baekkie hyung, I’m sorry.” Jinhwan said.

To say Baekhyun is shocked is an understatement, he was extremely shocked. And as if Jinhwan could hear the turmoil in the older’s mind, he holds on to Baekhyun’s hand.

“Sorry ‘cause I got angry with --- you. With Y-y-y-yeollie hyung. I-I-I should not have blamed any of you.” Jinhwan hiccupped, trying to keep his tears at bay but failing at doing so.

“Oh honey! It’s ok!” Baekhyun immediately consoled the younger. “Yeollie and I understand you... hmmm. We understand...” 

Baekhyun sighed in relief, thankful that his little pup is now talking to him again.

\----------******-----------

Hanbin and Bobby still looked confused. But what stuck to their minds was the question, Kris Hyung likes Jinhwan?

“This doesn’t make sense.” Bobby broke the silence. “Kris hyung is not like that”

Hanbin looked at Bobby as if gauging the mood of the older. He didn’t want to make their relationship even worse than it already is, so he decided to keep his mum.

Bobby however, felt defensive with Hanbin’s silence. He glared at Hanbin and insisted.

“KRIS HYUNG IS NOTHING LIKE THAT!” the older hissed then he pushed Hanbin and walked away from the scene.

Torn if he should follow Bobby or not, Hanbin decided to leave Bobby on his own and just visit Jinhwan for his own sanity, but as he reached the younger’s room, he saw Baekhyun leaving the said room in tears.

Nodding at each other, Hanbin entered just in time to see Jinhwan wiping his tears.

“Hi Angel, how are you…?” Hanbin asked, worried as soon as he saw Jinhwan with tears in his eyes.

“Hey! Why so sad? Hmmmm? It’s ok.” Hanbin consoled Jinhwan as he wiped the tears away from his eyes.

“B-b-baek hyung and I t-t-talked.” The younger hiccupped. “I’ve been bad to h-h-him.” He added.

“No, my angel. Don't say that. You’re not bad. Things happened and you just reacted to that.”

“B-b-but it is all my fault. I-i-if I was not weak. If I was just strong enough …. If I am not so defenceless!” Jinhwan balled even more.

Then an idea came to the younger’s mind. He looked at Hanbin already ready to beg for him to agree to his idea, eyes slowly becoming purple again. 

“Binnie. Train me!”

\----------******-----------

A day has passed after the confrontation between Chanyeol and Kris. It would be impossible for the others not to find out about it and Chanyeol knew that it was only a matter of time until someone reprimands him of his mistake.

“CHANYEOL!” Chanyeol flinched when he recognized the voice that entered the training room. “What did you do THIS time?!” Xiumin confronted his dongsaeng.

Aware of what his hyung is talking about, all Chanyeol can do is sigh tiredly. “I’m sorry hyung... I-I… I was a jerk.” He explained.

“Yes you are!” The oldest pointed out. “Kris hasn’t come back and he rarely leaves this place unattended. We have enemies out there that we don’t know about and you just had to push him to his limit!”

“Hyung… I… I didn’t mean to. I was… I realized how wrong it was when I said it out but, I’m telling you it’s…”

“Chanyeol… How could you even talk about Tao! You, of all people, should know how it destroyed Kris!” Xiumin emphasized. “We almost lost him Yeol! We almost lost him!”

“I know hyung. It’s my fault and I… realize that now. I-I’ll talk to him once he—“

And before the fire user could even finish his sentence, Kris had suddenly appeared in front of him and the next thing he knew, he was on the floor with a busted lip. All thanks to the older gifted.

“KRIS!!! WHAT THE HECK!!!” Xiumin exclaimed, shock apparent on his face as he looked at Chanyeol.

Chanyeol, on the other hand, remained silent as he stood up. Aware of why the older did it and, to be completely honest, knows that he deserved that.

“That... is for bringing up Tao when you know better than anyone what happened that time.” Kris stated before he threw another punch on Chanyeol’s face.

“And this… this is for thinking I am harboring any romantic feelings for Jinhwan.” Chanyeol hissed as he held on his busted lip. Looking at the blood from it.

Xiumin immediately stepped in front of Kris when he saw the taller take another step towards Chanyeol. He immediately stopped him by holding on his chest.

“Are you that insane Chanyeol? Jinhwan is like a son to all of us! We were all there when he was born and we all watched him grow up into who he is now. Sure, you guys spent more time with him than us but how can you think like that!” Kris questioned, eyes glaring at the younger on the floor.

“I’m sorry hyung… I should’ve… I should’ve asked you properly instead of letting it get to my head and making my own conclusions...” Chanyeol said, looking away from the older.

“I hope you start remembering that we’re all in this together instead of looking at us as outsiders.” Kris said.

“What’s happening here?”

The three looked at the doorway to see Baekhyun looking at the three of them in confusion. Baekhyun saw Chanyeol on the floor with a bleeding lip while Xiumin stood in between them holding on to Kris.

“Teaching your lover a lesson. I had to shake his head to keep it from going to the gutter.” Kris stated, pulling away from Xiumin and standing straight. Gone was the stance of attack that he was pulling moments ago.

Baekhyun immediately went to Chanyeol, inspecting his lover’s lips. “Kris-hyung you overdid it! Now I won’t be able to kiss my Yeollie anymore!”

Chanyeol and Kris looked at Baekhyun before looking at each other. They couldn’t help but laugh out loud with what he just said. Meanwhile, Xiumin let out a sigh of relief as he shook his head.

“That was… satisfying.” Kris said in between his chuckles. A wide grin evident on his lips as he stepped closer to Chanyeol and offering a hand to the younger.

“Yup! Definitely what we needed” Chanyeol agreed, reaching for Kris' hand and standing up. The two shook their hands and smiled at each other before turning to Baekhyun who was still complaining about Chanyeol’s busted lip.

“You guys! Not cool! How am I supposed to live without my Yeollie’s kisses!!” Baekhyun pouted with furrowed brows.

“Sorry love” Chanyeol apologized. “Just needed to release tension I guess. We needed it.” 

Baekhyun sighed as he looked away. “Fine. And if you two are done… Then there’s something I need to discuss.”

“Then, we’ll be on our way.” Kris said, planning to leave. Thinking that the two needed their own privacy.

“No, hyung. I want you guys to stay and listen to what I have to say.” Baekhyun said, making Kris and Xiumin look at each other before looking back at the light user.

They all settled on the floor before they started talking. And with Baekhyun’s tone of voice, they knew that it was going to be a serious discussion.

“Well, I need to discuss something important.” The light user prompted. Afterall, he needs to hear the older’s decision for this since it will be critical to what their next step is.

“I... Jinani finally started talking to me again.” Baekhyun informed them with an evident smile on his face. It's been so long and everyone knows how fond he is of the young gifted.

“That is good love. What have you two been talking about? “ Chanyeol asked.

“Well... He told me… ah. No. Hanbin relayed to be that Jinani wants to be trained properly with the addition of physical training.” Baekhyun said, looking at everyone.

“He wants to be trained?” “He wants to be trained!” Kris and Chanyeol simultaneously said, although they expressed different reactions.

“What do you mean Baekhyun? Luhan’s been training him with the basics for now because we’re still trying to discover what his Gift is.” Xiumin asked, looking at the younger.

“Yes, well… It looks like he wants more than just the basics. Luhan-hyung has been helping him with his mental ability but he's asking for more and that's why I wanted to talk to the both of you.” Baekhyun confirmed, looking at Chanyeol and Kris. "I think it will be best to train Jinani individually by combat." 

This gave Baekhyun weird looks from the other three gifted.

“I’m not agreeing with this Baek. I propose a dual combat training instead of individual training. It’ll help him if he has a partner by his side.” Kris voiced out, but Chanyeol shook his head which didn’t escape Baekhyun’s eyes.

“I think he can manage on his own. Come on, the kid wants to get trained and yet we’re not gonna give that to him?” Baekhyun asked, looking at them. ”He can do it.”

"Baek, I know you love Jinhwan a lot… but it's too risky to let him do it alone, especially since we don’t know a lot about his Gift yet." Xiumin explained

"I agree with Umin hyung. Jinhwan is not really a combat person. He's too small and weak. And from what we see, his power is more Passive and it's not really for combat." Chanyeol seconded.

Baekhyun flinched with what he heard. Looking at his lover, he felt like he was somehow attacked by the words that left Chanyeol’s lips. Small? Weak? Baekhyun couldn't help but scoff at the words that Chanyeol chose to say.

"His power is a mental manipulation of some sort. He may look small and weak for now, but he can grow into a stronger person. Isn’t that what happened to all of us?” Baekhyun questioned but the three shook their heads. “Fine. Maybe not all of us… But I mean… Look at me and Luhan-hyung! Our Gift may not be active like yours but I can take you on on my own!”

“Look love, I’m not saying that he can’t do it. But Jinhwan has never trained all his life and now all of a sudden you think he can simply stand up against two active Gifted that’s been training all their life?” Chanyeol questioned, looking at his lover with furrowed brows.

Kris and Xiumin couldn't help but look at each other as the debate continued. Kris did note that Baekhyun had valid points but Chanyeol was also right. Hearing their discussion, which was now turning into an argument, made him think.

“Isn't it more beneficial if he also trains in combat? And No! Just because Jinhwan didn’t train all his life, he is NOT weak. Just because his power is a Passive type like me does not mean he is weak!” the light user defended.

The whole conversation is not sitting well with Baekhyun anymore. What was his lover insinuating? How dare he brand Jinhwan as weak! 

“Honey, it's not like that… fine… Maybe we _can_ train Jinhwan but it’s impossible to train him all by himself to face Active users like us. I think Kris will agree with me on this that it's better if Jinhwan gets paired with someone. Someone who can protect him. Someone like Hanbin for example” Chanyeol stated, trying his best to explain to his lover.

“Or Bobby.” Kris nodded.

“Or no one! Passive Gifts can be just as damaging as Active Gifts! Luhan hyung and I can train Jinhwan ALONE! He can handle it. He is not as weak and helpless as you two think!” Baekhyun exclaimed with a glow of light apparent on his hair.

Baekhyun is obviously fuming,angry and disappointed that his lover would not listen to him.

“Baek, calm down. We need to talk about this rationally.” Chanyeol stated, worried about the glow that was already beaming out of Baekhyun.

By this time, Kris and Xiumin backed down from the conversation. They could tell that something about this was different and by the looks of it, Xiumin could understand what it was.

“How can you just assume Jinhwan is helpless when none of you knows about Jinhwan’s gift!” Baekhyun exclaimed, leaving the three speechless.

“Baek, you have to calm down.” Xiumin urged, looking at the younger who refused to listen.

“If you think Jinhwan couldn’t do it then I’m telling you that you’re wrong! I’m betting everything on Jinhwan and if he manages himself against Hanbin and Bobby then you’ll have to do everything that I say!” Baekhyun challenged. Seeing the fire in his lover’s eyes, Chanyeol could only stare at him. No more words could leave his lips.

“I’ll handle Jinhwan’s training and I’m making sure that he wins against those two!” Baekhyun pointed before turning around to leave.

“Baekhyun!” Xiumin called out, standing up to follow the younger.

Chanyeol looked at Kris, “What just happened?”

“Byun Baekhyun happened.” Kris answered as they both looked at the direction Baekhyun left.

\----------******-----------

“You did what!?” Luhan bursted before rubbing his face with his hands and massaging his temples. “Are you really that crazy Byun Baekhyun?! We don’t even know what his Gift is! How can you do that bet! And with two Active Gifted no less!”

Baekhyun flinched as he listened to Luhan’s complaints. He watched as the older grumbled while massaging his head. Right at that moment, Xiumin stepped closer to hold Luhan’s head. Planting a kiss on his temples, leaving a thin layer of ice to cool his headache.

“I want to go inside your brain so bad and make you go jump in a freezing pool! And you, you did not even stop this .. this idiot!?” Luhan clicked his tongue while Xiumin rubbed his arm. “I did. But he just didn’t listen. What else can I do? Hmmm” Xiumin defended himself.

“I feel like my head is going to break!” Luhan complained as he looked at Xiumin who could only smile at him.

“But they were saying Jinhwan is weak and small and helpless and… And Jinhwan isn’t any of that! It's not that bad, hyung…” A sulking Baekhyun replied, pouting at the older who was still visibly irritated and in pain.

“Baekhyun… they’re right. Jinhwan _is_ weak and small right now but it doesn’t mean we could just suddenly make a miracle and get him to become like his father in a snap of a finger!” Luhan claimed.

Baekhyun frowned further, looking down. Xiumin sighed before he stepped closer to Baekhyun, holding his hands and making the latter look at him. “You took it personally.”

“But hyung you heard what they said… I just want to train Jinhwan so he can learn to defend himself. That’s it.” Baekhyun reasoned but Xiumin simply tightened his grip. “Are you really mad for Jinhwan... or are you mad because you remember yourself when you heard what they said?”

Baekhyun could only look at Xiumin. The answer, written plainly on his face. Luhan looked away, understanding what Xiumin’s question was about. Being Passive Gifted, they weren’t strangers to being ridiculed. Most often than not, they had to endure constant teasing from the others. And just because their Gifts did not manifest a form, the other Gifted children they grew up with looked down on them.

But look at what they’ve become now? They were important members of their team. Luhan who’s following the footsteps of Dragon with his mental ability while Baekhyun who’s managed to completely develop his Gift.

“What’s done is done, hyung. Just help me train Nani. Hmmm? Please!” the light user begged, coupled with his pout and puppy eyes.

Xiumin could only smile at him while waiting for his lover to speak. “Argh! It's not like we can still back out from it …” Luhan started and Xiumin could barely hold his smile.

“You know, we can still back out if—“

“Again, Xiumin, we cannot back out of this. I am mad at Baekhyun for putting Jinhwan on the spot, he’s right… Whether we like it or not, Jinhwan needs to learn how to defend himself.” Luhan said, looking up at them. “Besides, Chanyeol needs to be reminded not to look down on Passive Gifted. Do I make myself clear?” Luhan asked sassily with his brow raised as if testing if Xiumin will disagree.

“You’re scary when you’re angry, you know that?” Xiumin said, looking at his lover before sighing. “Fine. I’ll help you two. Afterall, I agree that Jinhwan needs this as well.”

“Good! Now... Tell me Baekhyun, what is this thing that you found out about Jinhwan’s gift?” Luhan asked, which made Baekhyun click his tongue. “I keep telling you not to read my mind.”

“It’s hard not to when you’re always screaming inside that head of yours.” Luhan answered back. 

But that was Baekhyun’s cue, he handed a piece of paper to Luhan. Which was left by his windows. 

“Jinhwan has The Gift of Truth.” Xiumin read out loud, furrowing his brows as he thought of the words in the paper. “What does that even mean? Gift of Truth? This is a first.” 

“There’s different kinds of Gifts all over the world. I have heard and seen a lot of Gifts while helping Dragon.” Luhan said. “The Gift of Truth…” Luhan looked up at Baekhyun and that shared moment when their eyes met meant more than just a coincidence. Though Xiumin didn’t realize it, the two spoke a silent agreement when they nodded to each other.

“I’m not sure either hyung. But for some weird reason, I want to believe this is the clue we need to find out Jinhwan’s Gift.”

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya everyone!  
> So here's another update. We're sorry that the ones from ao3 and aff aren't as updated as the one in Twitter but we're doing our best to match them.  
> Also, we apologize for the grammatical errors. But we'll try to fix them maybe? heh.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!


	11. Chapter 11

Jinhwan gasped for breath as he held on his knees. The exercises that Xiumin gave him were horribly tiring and most of the time he felt like his body would cave and give in. But soon they realized that whenever Jinhwan was close to losing consciousness, his hair and eyes turned into this mild hue of purple as he told himself that he could do it.

At first, Baekhyun continuously pushed Jinhwan to his limits followed by Xiumin and Luhan. But on the third day, Xiumin started doubting this training regimen.

“Jinhwan, dear, I know this training is a lot and I really, really want to see you improve but… I don’t want you to do it in exchange for your health.” Xiumin stated.

“I-I’m fine, hyung.” Jinhwan answered while panting.

Somehow, deep inside Xiumin, he worried for the younger. Seeing how he pushed himself to this extent reminded him of the times when Luhan pushed himself to the limit and almost lost himself in what he wanted to achieve. Conviction is a strong emotion to have but to disregard anything else is merely suicide.

“Jinhwan, I won’t train you anymore if you try to push yourself beyond your limits.” Xiumin stated, surprising Baekhyun who was watching the training that Xiumin was putting out.

“Hyung… What do you mean? He’s doing his best and—“

“Baek… I agreed to train Jinhwan with you guys because I want him to improve and manage somehow… But I never agreed to breaking him down like this.” Xiumin said.

Baekhyun was no stranger to the emotion that he saw in Xiumin’s eyes; concern, worry, and fear. The very emotions that Chanyeol held for him when he was training nonstop to raise his physical prowess. 

Stepping back, he looked at Jinhwan and saw his reflection on the younger. His heart thumped in his chest and he immediately stepped closer to Jinhwan before rubbing his back. “Hey Jinani… I think you should listen to Umin-hyung… hmmm? We can train some more after you get proper rest.”

“But hyung I can—”

“Nope. I need you to rest the whole day. Complete rest. No physical training of any sort.” Xiumin said, narrowing his eyes at Jinhwan.

“But what am I supposed to do today?” Jinhwan asked, looking at the two.

“Would you like to see how the others are doing?” Baekhyun asked, smiling at the younger one who immediately beamed at him.

\----------******-----------

“What are they doing?” Jinhwan raised the question while the three of them were peeking at the doorway overlooking the training hall. He saw Bobby and Hanbin get engulfed into a mist with Chanyeol, Suho and Sehun’s Gift.

“We’re trying to train those two to cooperate and work together to incorporate their Gifts together. But we’ve had no luck.” Xiumin sighed, evidence that he, too, was tired of the bickering youngsters who still failed to work together.

“Are they always fighting like that?” Jinhwan asked, worry laced in his tone.

“Yeah. They haven’t gotten along well.” Baekhyun answered. “Look at the others over there. They’ve managed to somehow incorporate their Gifts together. Although it’s a learning phase and it’s not perfect at the very least they’re trying.”

Jinhwan sighed as he looked back at the mist. He suddenly saw Kris changing himself and turning into Bobby before entering the mist. They continued to watch silently until they heard someone clear his throat.

“Training was supposed to be done somewhere away from the training grounds. What are the three of you doing here?” They all turned to see Luhan with his arms crossed against his chest.

“I called it off.” Xiumin stated, standing upright while the two glanced at each other.

“And why is that?” Luhan asked, “It’s the first I heard about it. What happened to training his endurance to manage physical attacks?”

“It’s called a break Luhan.” Luhan didn’t seem too appreciative of the answer. “A break? What for? He looks like he can still do it.”

“And you looked like you could still fight when we trained together but remember what happened to you when you pushed it beyond your limits?” Xiumin challenged, stepping closer to his lover who could only swallow the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat.

Luhan looked at Xiumin’s eyes like hypnotizing orbs that he couldn’t even dare defy. Xiumin noticed his lover’s silence as he stared back at him, he tipped his head to the side before smirking. “Or would you rather ask someone else to train Jinhwan? I’m sure the others would be glad to help out.”

“Fine.” Luhan narrowed his eyes on the Ice user who only raised his brows in victory. But it was short-lived when his lips were occupied by Luhan’s within a tenth of a second’s time. Not even wasting a full second to let his lover enjoy the victory.

Pouting when Luhan moved back, Xiumin glared at his lover who only smiled at him. “I understand...”

“Are they always like that?” Jinhwan whispered to Baekhyun, who was smirking at the side. The older glanced at the younger with a satisfied smile before nodding. “They connect better with physical touch or so Luhan says. But he just wants to—”

“I can clearly hear you Baek, don’t even try to ruin his innocence.” Luhan called out as he glared at the Light Gifted. Baekhyun just shrugged his shoulders as he smiled at the other.

Just as they were doing this, they suddenly heard a loud explosion before feeling a gush of wind from inside the training room. Luhan staggered, holding his head as the force of the explosion was enough to shake his protective field around the area. Xiumin was quick to catch him, holding onto his arm and chest as he looked back at the training room door.

Baekhyun and Jinhwan looked back as well and they both gasped when they found a gigantic glacier around the room. Everyone else was frozen into the glacier and in the center of it all was Bobby.

“Baek, hold Luhan for me for a second. Jinhwan, come with me.” Baekhyun did as he was told and he immediately helped steady Luhan who had his other hand on his head, trying to steady the interfering Gift in his shielded territory.

Xiumin held Jinhwan’s wrist, making sure that the younger was just behind him.

“Bobby?” Xiumin called out but the younger was on his knees, shaking as if he couldn’t hear a single sound.

“Bobby?” Jinhwan called out and Xiumin noticed that quick response, albeit shortly. Seeing the response made him think of a tactical solution that may or may not cause him his life.

“Jinani… I know I told you that we’re not doing any more physical training today… But I need you to listen to me carefully.” Xiumin instructed while the younger just answered in agreement.

“I’m going to touch his ice and when I do, I need you to get to Bobby as soon as possible. I need you to call his name because if we don’t do something everyone in the glaciers will freeze to death. I’m going to try and reverse it but you have to snap him out of whatever it is he’s in.”

“I understand Umin hyung… Leave it to me.” Jinhwan answered, which made the older proud. Seeing the maturity in the young one made him feel that he was growing.

“On the count of three, run to him.” Xiumin stated.

The count started and even before Jinhwan heard the third number, his feet led him to Bobby. But on his way, he slipped down and he immediately opened his arms to push himself towards Bobby. Once his arms connected to the Ice user, his hair and his eyes turned into a beautiful glimmer of lavender.

“Jiwonie… you’re gonna be okay. You’re safe with me. You’ll be okay.” Jinhwan whispered which Bobby echoed. His mind easing into the memory that triggered the sudden burst of his Gift.

_[Memories]_

_“Learning the happiness that cold may bring will help you stay in tune with your Ice Gift Jiwon-ah.” Jiwon’s mother smiled at her as she held his hand, making a beautiful rose made of ice._

_“You’ll learn eventually! You’ll be just as amazing as daddy!” His father beamed as he carried the little boy who was struggling to make sure that he held his mother’s rose in his hand. “You’ll grow up into an amazing Gifted!”_

_~~_

_“Look at what he made dear!” Bobby’s mother clapped in glee while looking at the beautiful ice castle on their living room’s coffee table. His father rushed to the living room with his apron on and a wide grin on his face._

_“That’s my boy!” His father exclaimed as he held his son and carried him high. He gave the little one kisses before looking at his wife. “He’s a rare one.”_

_“A 3-year old and he’s already managed to make an ice castle...” His mother smiled, pride evident in her face while looking at the beauty he created._

_“You’re our special little bundle of Ice.”_

_~~_

_“Mom? Dad?” Bobby called out in worry, hands gripping his mother’s pants as she stood in front of him, defending him from the men that had invaded their home._

_“Who are you?! What do you want from us?!” His father voiced out, standing right in front of his wife and son._

_“We were ordered to take you into custody for illegal usage of your Gifts.” A man covered in black gear stated. A huge gun on his hands._

_Bobby wondered why they were all covered from head to toe with defensive gear. His parents would never hurt them._

_“We’ve never broken any laws! And we have never used our Gifts for illegal purposes! Stop spouting lies and tell me the truth!” Bobby’s father questioned as he slowly released icy particles in the air hoping to trap the men so they can escape._

_“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Bobby has never seen a Fire Gifted before but looking at the man who stood in front of his father, he knew, right that instant, that Fire was dangerous._

_~~_

_Bobby saw his mother begging, holding his father’s bloodied body before the Fire escaped the other Gifted’s hand. His eyes moved from the Fire towards his mother who was sobbing by his father’s body._

_“You should have listened when I was still being nice about it.” The Fire user smirked before looking at Bobby. “Now we’ll just have to get that little one.”_

_~~_

_Bobby saw his mother stand one moment and now she was just on the ground, burning. He couldn’t understand what was happening but there was something inside him that snapped._

_“Now be a good boy and come with us. Unless you want that to happen to you too.” The Fire user said._

_But Bobby’s mind was already shaken at the sight. His heart pumping so loudly in his chest and his fear swallowing him whole that when the Fire user stepped forward to touch him, his Gift burst out and rippled from him._

_~~_

_He opened his eyes to see everything covered in a type of Ice he’s never seen before. It was clear yet it also had a wisp of white. He looked around, his mother and father caught in the ice and all he could do was hold the ice and cry from losing his parents._

_[End of Memories]_

“They died...” Bobby whispered, “I couldn’t protect them...”

“You protected me Jiwonie and you’ve continuously protected me...” Jinhwan whispered, finally earning Bobby’s attention.

Bobby, who has finally gained back his consciousness, gasped when he realized that Jinhwan was right there, hugging him. “J-Jinani...”

“Jiwonie! You’re back!” Jinhwan smiled, hugging Bobby tighter than before.

Bobby lifted his hands, looking at them and wondered what happened when he saw Xiumin, gasping at the distance with his hands connected to the floor. He immediately furrowed his brows as his eyes roamed around the room to see the same type of ice that covered his entire hometown.

“Bobby! Are you finally back??” Xiumin called out and Bobby could only nod. Shocked at what happened around him.

“I don’t have much time!” Xiumin said with labored breath. “You need to calm down and start thinking of the ice as your happiness. If you continue to let fear swallow you, everyone’s going to die!”

Bobby audibly gasped at what he heard. Panic slowly rising in his system as his eyes moved from left to right, seeing the frozen Gifted standing inside the glaciers that he had formed.

“Jiwonie… it’ll be okay… I trust you. You can do this...” Jinhwan uttered with his purple eyes shining at Bobby. The younger’s hands naturally found themselves holding on Bobby’s hands before hugging them. “Jiwonie taught me that when I’m scared the best thing to do is to remember the people that makes me happy. I always think about you… and Hanbin… and my friends… and my parents… and the older Gifted… And then I don’t feel scared anymore.”

Bobby looked at Jinhwan’s eyes as if hypnotized by the words uttered to him. His mind travelled to the moment he first laid eyes on Jinhwan and how the younger did his best to befriend Bobby. His mind focused on Jinhwan’s smile and the ice that once occupied the training room slowly changed colors.

It soon turned into pure white and everything fell on the floor, tuning into white snow.

“W-what just happened?” Collective gasps and confused questions came out of everyone else’s lips as they looked around and wondered why there was snow everywhere.

“You did it Jiwonie!” Jinhwan exclaimed, opening his arms and pushing himself to Bobby again. Arms tightly embracing the older.

“Xiumin!”

They all turned to see Xiumin lying on the floor a few meters towards the entrance. The first to get to him was Luhan, who’s nose was still bleeding.

“Luhan!” The older Gifted soon surrounded the two. Wondering what just happened.

“I’m fine… But Xiumin… Min… What’s wrong?” Luhan asked as he carried his lover in his arms while he sat on the floor. Xiumin’s eyes fluttered open but he could see that the Gifted’s iris had turned to white.

“Min...”

“X-Xiumin-hyung… I-I… I...” Bobby struggled to talk, unsure what happened to Xiumin.

“You said Gift of Ice can never affect those with the same Gift!” One of them said.

“Ice users… can’t be affected by other ice users… Unless… It’s Absolute Zero.” Xiumin answered, “But if I didn’t interfere then everyone would have frozen and died… even if Bobby wakes up from his trance.”

“Xiumin hyung… your hands.” Sehun burst, making the others concentrate on it. They gasped when they saw Xiumin’s hands had turned into a deep blue ice. And it wasn’t just his hands. It was creeping up into his arms and it wasn’t stopping.

“W-what’s happening?!” Luhan asked, holding on Xiumin’s arm and concentrating to try and stop the spread.

“It’s… no use… love… I tried to… interfere… with someone else’s…ice and this… is what happens… when it’s absolute zero.” Xiumin whispers, each breath becoming icy with a clear fog from his lips.

“No! No! This can’t be happening!” Luhan cried.

“Isn’t there something I can do?!” Chanyeol asked, kneeling near Luhan and Xiumin.

“Don’t… try. You’ll just… make it… worse.” Xiumin smiled despite the pain he felt. He looked at Luhan, who’s nose was still bleeding, before saying. “Stop… pushing yourself. You’ll…”

“I’m not letting you die Min! So shut up and let me handle this!” Luhan answered back.

The ice that was spreading into Xiumin’s body had slowed down, thanks to Luhan’s Gift. But exerting too much effort into it was also pushing him beyond his limits.

“Damn it...” Luhan grumbled in pain while looking at Xiumin.

“It’s… gonna be… okay.” Xiumin smiled at his lover before closing his eyes.

The moment he did, Jinhwan couldn’t help but rush to his side. Everyone was surprised to see that the boy’s hair had changed into a deep lush of violet. The boy held Xiumin’s hand and immediately pulled it towards his chest.

“Please don’t take my Xiumin-hyung away… Please stop… I don’t want Xiumin-hyung to die!” Jinhwan begged with all of his might.

Luhan was the first to notice it, followed by Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Kris. Sehun and Lay gasped while Kyungsoo and Suho looked at each other. Kai and Chen wrinkled their foreheads.

The younger Gifted could even penetrate the circle that Luhan had formed around the group of older Gifted but they did notice that bright violet light that glowed in the middle of the circle.

As Jinhwan’s glow covered both him and Xiumin, they were all shocked to see that Xiumin’s hands had slowly turned back to normal.

“Xiumin-hyung...” Jinhwan called out before he passed out. Luckily, Kris managed to catch him before his head could hit the floor.

Luhan shook Xiumin a bit, trying to see if the other would awaken but Xiumin was out cold.

“What just happened?” Suho asked, followed by Kyungsoo. “Is that what you guys were talking about?”

“That’s Jinani’s Gift?” Sehun asked, looking at the older ones.

“I’m… I’m not sure.” Luhan answered, still worried about Xiumin but at the same time shocked at what he witnessed.

“That was about the same thing that happened last time.” Chanyeol suddenly answered.

“When he tried to escape?” Baekhyun asked and the others looked at each other again.

“No matter what it is… It’s a highly complex Gift.” Kai chimed in, making the others nod.

“His Gift is highly complex but… It also seems very dangerous.” Lay uttered, making the others look at him.

“Yixing-hyung is right. I can sense something going on around us. It looks like we’re not gonna have enough time.” Chen stated.

“I’m sorry… I couldn’t—“ Luhan started but Suho held his shoulder. “You don’t need to apologize. You’ve been hiding our presence all this time, and for that we’ll always be grateful to you.”

“If we do get attacked… I’m sure we can take them on.” Kyungsoo smiled, making the other older Gifted smile with him.

“You’re right. We can definitely take them on.” Kris finally spoke. “And we’re not just defeating them, we’re going to destroy them.”

“We told the Dragon we’ll protect his son...” Chanyeol said, looking up at them. “And that’s exactly what we’re gonna do.”

\----------******-----------

"S-Sir. We’ve lost several teams trying to get into the mansion. It’s somehow… protected from outside force."

"Of course they will protect it! It’s the only place they could hide!" Hyun Suk shouted as he threw his glass to his pawn. "You imbeciles! Bring Gifted there with you to find out what happened to that place!! We’ve got Gifted, we can use them to infiltrate the place! So get moving!"

"B-But Sir, we’ve been losing our teams left and right… We haven’t been able to contact any of them for weeks now. Among them are the other Gifted teams that we—” The man talking was suddenly lifted to the air as Hyunsuk’s hand swiftly dragged his hand up.

"NO! If you imbeciles are doing your job right, you will be reporting something worthy to me right now!"

“I-I’m sorry S-Sir…” The man stuttered as he slowly lost his breath. Hyunsuk waved his hand and the man’s body was thrown to the wall like a rag doll out of commission.

"Do you want me to move now?" A figure suddenly asked, stepping out of the shadows.

"It looks like you’ll have to. It’s about time they all get riled up. Bring me the boy."


	12. Chapter 12

“How is he, Lay?” Luhan nervously asked. 

It's been a whole day since Xiumin collapsed after the encounter with Bobby. Yet until now, none of the older gifted can explain what happened. Both Bobby’s sudden attack, nor how Jinhwan was able to counter the attack, neither of it still makes sense to them.

“He's surprisingly doing much better than I expect him to be,” Lay explained. “Minseok’s heart froze for a second or two and that alone is enough to be worried” he stated, eyeing a very worried Luhan.

“But he _is_ recovering. He’ll be just fine.” he reassured the rest of the members, especially Xiumin’s lover.

Relieved from what he heard, Luhan finally felt the tension leave his body. Letting go of all the tension from what had happened, everything surfaced into tears flooding out of his eyes. The adrenaline holding him up finally let loose, making him lose his footing. Baekhyun is luckily there to catch his best friend on time and comfort him. 

Meanwhile, in the other room, a very agitated Hanbin along with his mentor Chanyeol are still waiting for Jinhwan to wake up. After Jinhwan mysteriously diffused Bobby and revived Xiumin’s death, the young Gifted passed out and until now is unconscious but is already safe as per Lay. The same goes to Bobby who is laid on the bed just beside Jinhwan.

And just like Xiumin, Jinhwan was sound asleep yet they were still unconscious. Bobby, on the other hand, finally opened his eyes.

“Bobby!” Chanyeol called out. “Bobby. Can you hear us?”

“Urgh! Hyung---?” Bobby replied and even before Chanyeol can actually say anything to the young one, Bobby went into a state of panic.

“Hyung, W-w-where is Jinhwan?” he asked as he tried to remove the dextrose attached in his hands but Hanbin was able to stop him and tried to appease the ice user. 

Bobby is ready to fight with Hanbin for stopping him only to notice that the one he was looking for lied on the bed beside him.

“I did that to him?” Bobby whispered. His usual cold eyes are now slowly getting blurred by tears. Hanbin is shocked and before he and Chanyeol could react, Bobby bolts out of the room.

As much as Kris wants to check on Jinhwan, he couldn’t. With Luhan emotionally unstable, the barrier he maintains has weakened. Though he was sure that it was still enough to mask their presence, he still instructed the others to build the same defensive wall around their hideout. Kyungsoo created another maze around their base and Sehun created a thick fog along with Chanyeol to serve as a hindrance to find the right way through the maze. Though Kyungsoo made sure that all pathways are blocked.

He and the older Gifted will take turns in watching the cameras. With Lay’s Gift of Animation, he was able to create whatever they needed to survey the area without the need to go out. Kai was mostly the one on the look-out, since he could simply transport anywhere if needed. Kris needs to tighten their security now, specifically since they have 3 rare gifts with them. 

"Still worried about them?" someone asked.

"Can't help myself not to," Kris replied. He sighed before turning to the other guy, "Those kids aren’t ready yet, Suho. Jinhwan isn’t ready!"

Suho approached the taller, who was busy standing guard to watch the CCTV cameras, and stood beside him. Putting his hand on Kris’ shoulder, he looked at his friend.

"No one is. Even when we were at their age, we were always unprepared for what could happen. We didn’t know when we'd get attacked. No one warned us and yet here we are. Still alive.” The water Gifted explained. “Trust Jinhwan. Trust them. Trust us. We swore to each other that we will never allow another accident to happen. He won’t be like Tao. We will make sure he will not be like Tao.” Suho reassured him as he patted Kris’ shoulder.

“I can take it from here. I was told Bobby woke up. The kid needs _the talk_ with his mentor. Kyungsoo and I can handle things from here. For now, go look for him.”

As soon as Suho finished talking, Kris shifted into Kai to transport where Bobby was. Even without anyone telling him, he already knows where to find Bobby.

_‘He’s probably there again.’,_ Kris thought to himself as he left Suho laughing at how predictable the other is.

“Like trainer, like trainee. Incredible” 

A lot was happening and to be honest, Baekhyun is getting tired but that is the least of his concern. His mind is continuously thinking and running. A lot of questions are left unanswered and so little time is left and they all feel it. 

Decided that he can at least try to find more answers, his feet brought him to the library on the main mansion. It’s not safe and he knows it, but if there is a place he can possibly get answers from, it’s in the library of the Dragon Mansion. If he can get there without alerting his lover who was already over protective of him after seeing what happened to Xiumin-his direct rival in battle.

He knew he’d get into trouble for this, but he needed to go back. With Xiumin still out of commission, he couldn't rely on Luhan to bring him there willingly. He was sure his best friend would hold their safety as priority but he knew it in his gut that he needed to be there.

Thinking of who would be willing to help him, his mind floated to Kyungsoo. Since the guy made the maze, it would also be easier to go through it with the man who made it. Of course, the only problem would be getting him to agree. He knows that everyone is on the edge and with time passing, he knows that he needs to do something.

“Baek, are you just gonna stand there or are you going to talk?”

Without noticing it, his feet had led him to the guy that he kept thinking of. He was shaken out of his thoughts when he saw Kyungsoo standing at his doorway, looking straight at him.

“Kyungsoo-yah… we need to talk.”

Hearing the desperation in Baekhyun’s voice, Kyungsoo decided to let the guy into his room to talk. Sitting on the bed, Baekhyun immediately looked up at the owner of the room.

“Kyungsoo… I need to go to the Dragon’s mansion.”

Admittedly, Kyungsoo was shaken with what he heard. But deciphering Baekhyun’s words he furrowed his forehead to think. “Need? Why do you _need_ to go the mansion?”

“I don’t know but I just… I need to be there.” Baekhyun reasoned, unsure whether Kyungsoo would even believe him.

“Is it another vision?” the other questioned.

Baekhyun gritted his teeth. He would receive visions before, mostly due to his connection to Jiyong before. The Dragon would often send him visions, hoping that he could decipher them to understand the meaning behind them. The others know that he receives visions but they don’t know that its connected to Jiyong himself.

“Yes.” Baekhyun lied. If he were to use this to his advantage, he was sure that the others would understand. Especially if he found something of use to them in the mansion. No, he was sure he was going to find something. He couldn’t understand why but he was sure about it.

“And the reason that you’re asking for my help is because you don’t want the others to know about this… right?” Kyungsoo asked, earning a quick nod from the other.

The Earth Gifted bit back his lips, nibbling it before giving out a sigh. “We leave at dawn. We’ll use the tunnels I made so we’ll travel underground.”

“Thank you!” Baekhyun whispered as he pulled his friend into a tight embrace.

“I don’t know what your vision is… but I have to warn you about something. You have to stick with me. If I ever lose sight of you… we’re heading straight back.” Kyungsoo said.

“Yes. Yes, that’s fine with me.” Baekhyun answered without thinking of how they’d even do it. Kyungsoo then looked back at Baekhyun with eyes reflecting his conviction.

“And one more thing… we’re not going there unprepared.”

\---

“Wait what?” Baekhyun claimed, looking at Kyungsoo before looking back at Kai who was reaching out something to them.

“I said, I’m not letting you go without taking this with you.” Kai repeated.

“I— but… what? Why do you know what we’re planning?” Baekhyun asked, looking so lost.

“I told him. I figured if we’re going there we need to have a back up plan. Especially if things ever go south.” Kyungsoo nonchalantly stated, looking at Baekhyun who didn’t seem to appreciate his effort.

“Don’t worry. Kyungsoo explained it to me. Besides… you really need to learn to trust us Baek. We’re all friends… no. We’re a family. So it’s ok to rely on us sometimes.” Kai said, smiling at Baekhyun.

“You… guys really…” Baekhyun mumbled, feeling his heart thump in his chest. Appreciating their effort to help him despite his lie.

“Just remember… if anything goes wrong. Break this gem. The Goddess blessed me with this before and it helps you transport anywhere you think of. Just make sure that you think of a certain place or person before breaking this gem. It’s my own Gift afterall.” Kai said, pulling Baekhyun’s hand to give him the gem he was holding out.

“Like I told you, we’re not going there unprepared.”

Baekhyun really liked Kyungsoo’s effort. And then the worry followed despite his appreciation. “Have you told—”

“Don’t worry. We’re keeping it on the down-low. The only ones who know about it is me, Kai, Suho-hyung and Luhan-hyung.” Kyungsoo stated.

“Suho-hyung and Luhan-hyung knows about it as well?” Baekhyun asked.

“Well… you can’t really hide anything from Luhan-hyung. And Suho-hyung… just picks these things up naturally. He’s actually been worried about how you’re acting. So he talked to us and told us not to tell Chanyeol if you ever approach any of us.” Kyungsoo said, heading forward to make a tunnel ahead of them.

“You guys…” Baekhyun mumbled, looking at them. “Thank you…”

“We’ll do whatever we can to help Baek. That’s what family is for. Now stop being sappy and let’s head out. I don’t want to carry a crying man at the start of our date.” Kyungsoo smiled, earning a chuckle from Baekhyun as the guy wrapped his arm around Kyungsoo’s.

\---

Walking into the dragon mansion, Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel this tight knot in his chest. The place that they used to call home looked so foreign. They weren’t used to seeing the mansion with different hallways and a complicated structure that they’ve never seen before.

“It looks so different without hyung’s power.” Kyungsoo cited.

“it does…” Baekhyun answered, looking around.

“Well… where do we need to go?” Kyungsoo looked at Baekhyun. He could see that the light user was shaken from seeing the mansion. “Or would you like to rest for now?”

Baekhyun swallowed the lump that had formed n his throat. Looking at Kyungsoo, he shook his head before answering. “No. We should head to hyung’s study. He might have something there for us.”

Entering the Jiyong’s study, they were both cautious about entering. Knowing that there may be remnants of the couple’s blood around the room. But to their surprise there was none.

“Did… you guys clean this when you moved their bodies?” Kyungsoo asked.

Baekhyun shook his head, “N-no… Luhan-hyung and I didn’t touch anything else.”

“It looks clean… and maintained. Just like when he was using it.” Kyungsoo stated.

The two looked around the room, astonished at what they were seeing. And if they didn’t see the couple’s dead bodies, they’d think they were still alive.

“Baek, I think we should use Kai’s gems. This feels like a trap.” Kyungsoo said.

“Can we at least take the files? He might have something about Jinhwan’s information there.” Baekhyun reasoned, hoping that Kyungsoo would let him.

“Files? That’s what you wanted to get here?” Kyungsoo asked. “Do you know where they are?”

“A vague idea.” Baekhyun answered, though truth be told he was freaking out inside. He didn’t know where Jiyong kept all of his files about the Gifted he found. Heck, he’d never seen papers in Jiyong’s office. Just the bookshelves lined with books that always felt eery. As if they had eyes, watching his every move.

“Well… if it’s Jiyong-hyung… I’m sure it’s a secret compartment of some sort.”

Baekhyun nodded at his friend. Kyungsoo headed to Jiyong’s desk. It seemed to be the best place to hide compartments for files. Meanwhile, Baekhyun felt a strong pull towards Jiyong’s mini bar at the corner of the room. He knows how Jiyong loves his liquor but he was sure the guy would never place documents of such importance near them.

Or so he thought.

Baekhyun was surprised to see a tiny door under the bar counter. He turned it, hoping that it was open. And the only thing he found was a small key in it.

“A key?” Baekhyun whispered to himself. “Why would he leave a key in a place someone can easily open?”

Standing up, he turned to the liquor case behind him. It was odd. Jiyong wasn’t someone who would just leave things like this openly. And it was far too easy.

“I found a key!” Kyungsoo claimed, earning Baekhyun’s attention.

“A key? How big is it?” Baekhyun asked, walking towards Kyungsoo when he noticed something on the liquor case.

“It’s a really big one. Why? Did you—” Kyungsoo was just about to ask when Baekhyun opened the liquor case to insert the key he found in it.

“It fits.”

Twisting it open, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo watched as the cases separated into two and slide away from each other, revealing a record storage. Baekhyun immediately stepped in, hoping to find stuff in it but the liquor case immediately moved back and shut Baekhyun in.

“Baek!” Kyungsoo called out.

“Don’t worry Kyungsoo! I’m fine! There’s light in here. And I think only one person can come in. Maybe Jiyong’s Gift is still alive in this place.” Baekhyun stated.

“Baekhyun we talked about this!” Kyungsoo said.

“But these are the files I’m looking for. Can you check if there’s another place where your key works?”

“Baekhyun!” Kyungsoo warned. He looked around the case and saw the key. He immediately turned it and the liquor case immediately opened again.

“Wait Kyungsoo don’t come in! We don’t know what will happen if two people comes inside. Plus… there’s no key on my end.” Baekhyun said, stopping Kyungsoo from going inside.

“Fine! But don’t think of closing that. I need you to be where I can see you.” Kyungsoo said, gripping his hand into a fist.

“Yes. I’ll just be in here.” Baekhyun stated.

Going around the record room, Baekhyun opened different files to check if there’s anything relating to Jinhwan. The only files he saw were files about Gifted that may or may not still be alive. He thought there was just a few of them but he was surprised to see a lot of people who had Gifts.

Kyungsoo, on the other hand, looked around the study. He believed Baekhyun’s words that there might be another keyhole that would work for the key he was holding. With its size, which was as big as Kyungsoo’s hand, he was sure the keyhole should be easily visible.

On the other hand, after looking through the files Baekhyun slowly felt frustrated.

“I went here for nothing. Argh! Chanyeol will be so mad at me for leaving the camp.” Baekhyun exasperatedly sighed to himself, careful not to let Kyungsoo hear him.

He was ready to leave the room, when the liquor case suddenly shut close again. Baekhyun was surprised, to say the least. Especially when no light appeared nor does he hear Kyungsoo’s voice.

“Leaving so soon?” A female’s voice in the darkness asked. This immediately alerted the latter. 

_‘This is not good’_ he thought to himself. He needs to stay and fight or else, he would lose his life. And that, he cannot allow.

“Who are you?” Baekhyun bravely asked, already preparing himself to fight.

He heard the same voice laugh. “Relax. I’m not here to fight you. Well… Not. Yet.” the voice laughed again.

“I. SAID. WHO. ARE. YOU!” irritated, Baekhyun blasted his light in the entire room but instead of getting scared, the intruder mockingly laughed at him.

“Well! That was a fantastic display of your Gift. Looks like Dara taught you well. Or was it Jiyong?” The voice triggered Baekhyun even more but more than that, the light user’s attention was caught by the fact that this stranger knows both the Dragon and the Goddess.

And as if the intruder read his mind, she started laughing again.

“Surprised? Don’t worry about it for now. And stop looking for me. It's a useless act, light user.”

Baekhyun scoffed. “What do you want then? And who exactly are you?” 

The voice sighed loudly. “You’re asking stupid questions Baekhyun. Really stupid questions” the voice answered. “If I were you, I would be asking about that boy… what’s his name again?“

Baekhyun froze. No way. This person knows who Jinhwan is? 

“I-I-I don’t know what you are talking about.” he immediately denied. He can't let Jinhwan be harmed. He’ll have to die before anyone touches Jinhwan.

“Chill. I'm just here to see how things are moving and boy you guys are so slow. So, let me give you a clue to make this chase more interesting, what do you say?” 

Baekhyun silently looked for where the voice was coming from but to no avail. The person’s presence was covered in darkness and not even his own light could counter her. 

“I told you already. There is no point in searching for me. Why don’t you just spend your time in the archives in the basement. You might find something interesting down there. Not that you don’t know about it.” With her tone, Baekhyun couldn’t help but grit his teeth.

He knew of the existence of the basement under the mansion but the only problem is… he doesn’t know how to get there since Jiyong was the only one who knew.

“The stairs are lovely aren’t they? Ever thought about what’s behind them?” The voice hinted, which Baekhyun took with a grain of salt.

“Why should I trust what you say?”

“Oh… And be careful who you bring to the archives. You don’t want them finding out about your secret.” The voice whispered.

Baekhyun was to ask the voice what it meant but the darkness surrounding him disappeared and he was back in the record storage. The liquor cases were open and Kyungsoo just came by to look for him as if the whole interaction with the darkness didn’t happen.

“I really couldn’t find a keyhole any— Baek? Are you alright?” Kyungsoo asked, worriedly looking at Baekhyun who didn’t notice that he had gone pale. “D-did you just get a vision?”

“Let’s go down the stairs. I want to… confirm something.” Baekhyun urged and Kyungsoo nodded.

The two headed down and though they struggled to find the entrance towards the back of the stairs, Kyungsoo managed to create a wall that led them directly where they needed to go.

“I can’t understand why I can’t destroy the stairs. It’s like its reinforced with something.” Kyungsoo said.

Baekhyun didn’t mind the guy’s question because he saw the keyhole that Kyungsoo was supposed to be looking for.

‘She was telling the truth.’ Baekhyun thought.

“Kyungsoo, can you check if the key works here?” Baekhyun asked, shining a light towards the keyhole he found.

Twisting the key into it, the wall moved down revealing another flight of stairs going down.

“Wow… I never knew the mansion has an underground?” Kyungsoo eyed Baekhyun.

"Jiyong-hyung told me about it before but I never really knew how to get there. It makes sense now… That’s why the stairs was the only place in the house that doesn’t get damaged whenever Junhoe acted up with his powers." Baekhyun answered in disbelief.

"Baek. Your visions… Are you sure that this time… it’s not a trap? We’ve lived here since our teenage years but even Kai who has been in every corner of the mansion is not aware of this place."

Baekhyun wasn’t sure what expression he was showing to his friend. Was it of guilt? Or worry? He was starting to feel nauseous of the fact that he’s hiding something, but he just couldn’t bear to spill it to anyone too.

“If the visions are correct… the one I’m looking for is down there. It’s the archives.”

Kyungsoo could only keep his thoughts to himself. The worry, the questions, it was all going to be kept. Baekhyun looked too troubled to think and he wasn’t sure talking to him would be of any use at this point.

Walking down the stairs. Several lights lit their way. Reaching the bottom, the basement looked living room in the mansion. But doors upon doors lined up along its walls.

“How are we supposed to—” Baekhyun whispered to himself but Kyungsoo was quick to hold the ground.

“Since we’re now underground I can find out where we need to go.” Kyungsoo said.

There was a sudden urge of panic in Baekhyun’s chest. Kyungsoo was good at controlling the earth and he would find out anything atop it. His lips immediately moved to distract the other.

“I think this door would be a good start!” Baekhyun immediately headed to the door in the middle. But once he opened it, they were surprised to see what was in it.

“Why is Jinani’s room underground?” Kyungsoo absentmindedly asked. Lifting himself from the ground to follow Baekhyun into the room.

Looking around, they are indeed in Jinhwan’s room. What are the odds that the possible answer to Jinhwan’s gift is in his own room all along? But Baekhyun found it strange. Why would the dragon place Jinhwan’s room underground?

“I didn’t’ think Jinhwan would like these kinds of books.” Kyungsoo suddenly commented that made Baekhyun look at the other’s direction and on his hand is a very familiar book.

“He still reads that one.” Baekhyun explained. “It's his favorite actually.” he reminisced but as Kyungsoo was fiddling the book, a piece of paper fell.

**_ CONGRATULATIONS! You’re not as dumb as I thought you would be.  _ **

**_ As a price, here’s a little gift:  _ **

**_ TIK TOK Time won’t stop Ticking.  _ **

**_ Don’t worry, they’re not just sleeping  _ **

**_ Move your hands from one to three. _ **

**_ And answers you’re seeking will be free. _ **

“Tik tok Time wont stop ticking?” Kyungsoo read out loud. “Is this connected to your visions Baek?”

But the man he was talking to was already looking at Jinhwan’s unique wall clock that, if he can remember, is a gift of Jinhwan’s parents to him.

“That’s it…” Baekhyun answered.

“What do you mean? Do you know who wrote this note?” Kyungsoo asked but instead of answering, Baekhyun stormed out of the room and headed towards the another room. He opened the middle door on the right wall and saw a long and narrow hallway.

Rushing in, Kyungsoo ran after him to make sure that he doesn’t lose sight of Baekhyun. Running into that place led them to another room filled with bookcases upon bookcases. Floating parchments and tables filled with paper and books. Baekhyun remembers how Jiyong teased them that this place contained magic. That no entity of evil may ever enter for it will never reveal itself to them. Though Baekhyun knew that it was all due to Jiyong’s Gift that the place was as it is. And this though place, was the place that Baekhyun needs, he cant help but wonder if Jiyong’s words bear truth.

“The archives.” Baekhyun said under his breath.

He immediately used his Gift to shine around the room and as the light died down a book at the top of the bookshelf continued to shine bright as if absorbing Baekhyun’s Gift.

“Is that what you’re looking for?” Kyungsoo asked and Baekhyun smiled at him. “Yes! That’s it!”

Thought he wasn’t really sure what he was looking for, he could feel a strong pull from the book. As if it was begging him to get it.

Kyungsoo lifted his hands, raising the ground to bring Baekhyun up. The latter immediately reached for the book before turning to show it off to Kyungsoo. “I got it Kyung— NO!”

Baekhyun gasped when he saw a black shadow behind Kyungsoo. Not a moment after yelling no, Kyungsoo felt a sharp pain on his torso. Looking down, he saw his clothes soiled in blood.

“Don’t expect my services to be free, light user.” Baekhyun felt the ground crumble and he fell down. But that didn’t stop him from running towards Kyungsoo.

“Kyungsoo, are you—”

“I’m sorry Baek.” Kyungsoo said before breaking the gem that Kai had given them.

“Run along now… I look forward to hunting you guys down.” The shadow said as her laughter echoed into the archives.


	13. Chapter 13

“What the hell were you thinking?!”

Baekhyun flinched when Chanyeol’s voice blasted around the room. Though he was still shaking and worried about his friend’s condition, he was sure that Chanyeol wasn’t going to let him off any time soon.

“Baekhyun! Are you even listening to anything I’m saying? You didn’t just endanger yourself. You even got someone else hurt!” Chanyeol blasted again. They were in the hallway towards the clinic where Lay and Luhan were mending on Kyungsoo. And though Lay wanted to shoo them off, he knew better than to agitate Chanyeol further.

When Baekhyun and Kyungsoo teleported back to their base, the first person to find them was Chanyeol. The look of horror on Chanyeol’s face when he saw his best friend and lover covered in blood was enough to make him lose his composure. Suho, who happened to be passing by, was the first to reach out to the new arrivals and check on their condition.

Suho instructed Chanyeol to bring Kyungsoo into the clinic while Baekhyun absentmindedly followed.

“Chanyeol… you shouldn’t be too hard on him.” Suho interjected, holding on to Chanyeol’s arm.

“No, hyung! This is serious! He always pushes what he wants to do without thinking things through!” Chanyeol shifted his gaze from the older to Baekhyun. “Instead of organizing a whole team to survey the place and get what you want, you risked both you and Kyungsoo’s life!” Chanyeol was adamant about nagging at Baekhyun. 

But honestly, he was scared beyond his wits when he found out that his lover returned to the Dragon mansion.

He was angered by the fact that his lover would risk his life out there when they all knew what could happen. Baekhyun wouldn’t stand a chance against the man the Dragon faced. Beyond the anger that he was lashing out, Chanyeol felt fear trying to swallow him whole. He was devastated when he saw what happened to Jiyong but knowing that he could possibly lose his lover terrified him. He wouldn’t know what he’ll do if he also lost the man he loves..

Even thinking about it sent a painful grip in his chest.

“I didn’t want it to happen too! But I needed to get—” Baekhyun answered, but Chanyeol only felt more infuriated.

“This is the problem with you, Baek… you always want to do things on your own. This wouldn’t have happened if you just asked for our help!” Chanyeol stated.

“But I did ask for help! I wanted to go alone, but I asked for Kyungsoo’s help and—”

“And look at where that led him!” Chanyeol immediately cut off.

“I don’t know what else you want me to do, Chanyeol! Am I supposed to be the one on that bed?!” Baekhyun blasted back at his angered lover.

Chanyeol gritted his teeth as he glared at Baekhyun. “But you should have asked for our help too! Baekhyun, we’re the only ones left! Who else is supposed to be there to help if not us?! If not me?!” Chanyeol growled.

“AND YOU WOULDN’T HAVE LET ME GO IF I ASKED YOU!! You’re so unreasonable!” Baekhyun shouted.

With the loud commotion going on, it wasn’t uncommon for the others to come and take a look at what was happening. They were surprised to see Chanyeol, who was usually filled with smiles and laughter, losing his composure. What’s more, he was doing it in front of his lover.

The twins were surprised to see their mentor’s clothes covered in blood while Chanyeol shouted at him. Junhoe, on the other hand, was getting fidgety. Donghyuk was hiding behind the twins. And Hanbin…

Hanbin was feeling this indescribable pressure in his chest as he watched his mentor in pure anger. Visions of his past overlapping with what’s happening at present.

“I’M BEING UNREASONABLE? YOU’RE POWERLESS BAEKHYUN! LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED TO KYUNGSOO!” Chanyeol screamed back.

“I DIDN’T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN TO HIM TO CHANYEOL!” Baekhyun blasted back.

“DO YOU EVEN REALIZE HOW WRONG YOU ARE?!” Chanyeol screamed back.

_“Do you even realize what a monster you are?!” Hanbin’s father shouted._

“WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?! GO BACK TO THE PAST AND STOP IT?!” Baekhyun reasoned, not realizing Chanyeol’s worries.

“YOU’RE THE ONE THAT’S UNREASONABLE BAEK! STOP BEING SO SELFISH!”

_“You selfish brat! Why do you still try to live?!” Hanbin’s mother voiced out._

“WELL I’M SORRY KYUNGSOO WAS HURT BECAUSE OF ME!! WOULD YOU FEEL BETTER IF I GOT HURT INSTEAD?! SHOULD I JUST TELL THAT SHADOW TO KILL M—”

In a fit of rage, Chanyeol released a strong force of flames around his body as he growled at his lover’s words. Gritting his teeth, he turned around to walk away. “You don’t understand anything.”

_“You don’t understand anything… you monster!” Hanbin’s sister told him._

They all flinched when Chanyeol slammed his fist on the wall before turning to the corner. The younger Gifted all looked at each other, worried about the older.

“That Chanyeol. He’s always so overreacting. He didn’t even give me time to explain. I know it’s my fault but… but… but he shouldn’t… he’s stupid!” Baekhyun complained, though tears were already falling down his cheeks.

“Baekhyun…” Suho sighed.

Everyone was so absorbed in the older Gifted’s fight, that they didn’t notice Hanbin holding his head as _memories of his past_ kept flooding back into his mind.

Words of his parents reflect the words that Chanyeol and Baekhyun exchanged.

Words that he was so sure he’d forgotten crawled back into the surface to take a grip of his present.

“No… No…” Hanbin whispered to himself, gripping his hair and trying to even out his breathing. But the fear was there, opening its claws to get a grip of his emotions. His mind remembered Chanyeol’s words.

_“It takes time to control your Gift but whether you control it or let it control you is all up to you."_

Hanbin couldn't understand why this was happening. But he was sure of one thing, his fears were coming back to life.

Hearing the older’s odd whispers, Donghyuk turned to look at Hanbin. He was surprised to see a thin coat of flame rising from the older’s body. He immediately pulled Yunhyeong’s shirt, hoping to earn the older’s attention.

“What is it?” Yunhyeong asked, but he immediately noticed Hanbin. “Suho-hyung!

\---

At a different part of the place earlier that day.

“I knew you’d be there...” Kris said, stepping close to the tree at the center of the garden. The younger was on one of its branches again, and Kris was looking up at him.

“How’d you find me?” Bobby asked, watching as Kris levitated up to sit beside Bobby.

“A lucky guess. But a little birdie told me that the patient who ran away after waking up has yet to show himself back in the clinic. Do you know how many days it has been?” Kris said.

“Did Chanyeol-hyung…?” Bobby trailed off.

“Nope. Suho did. So… wanna talk about it?”

Bobby looked down. Watching his feet as he swung them back and forth. “Xiumin-hyung… got hurt because of me. Jinani… Jinani’s hurt because of me.”

Kris listened as Bobby’s voice cracked. He could feel the pain in the younger’s voice. Though he knows that Bobby’s Gift caused their group problems, he couldn’t blame the ice user for losing control. Each of them has lost themselves in their Gift once, twice, and even several times. It was inevitable, especially with rare Gifts like theirs. Control is a luxury, but he knows that all of them try their best to get a grip on their Gifts.

But sometimes, some things are just out of one’s control.

Remembering the time when he lost himself brought a bitter taste in his mouth. But he knew he needed to get to the root cause of Bobby’s terror before he could find peace. A Gifted who despises their Gift is like hating the existence of their breath. It’s a part of them that they cannot separate themselves from. And the only way to gain back control of something that has once gone astray is to accept it completely.

“Let me tell you a story… There was this guy who was abandoned by his family because he was different. He wandered around the streets, turned to stealing just to fill his stomach with food. He was lost, unsure of what he should be doing with his life. And then, one day, everything around him stopped moving.” Kris swallowed the lump that formed in his throat as he talked. Though Bobby could see the pain in the older Gifted’s eyes, Kris continued to speak. “That guy kept on taking what wasn’t his. Especially since he found out that he can stop time, he can stop everyone from moving. He could freely take food and get into places without getting caught. He thought no one would find him or discover what he could do. But someone else did.”

Bobby wondered why Kris was telling him such a story, but his curiosity led him to listen to the older.

“He found another boy who was even less fortunate than him. The other boy was paralyzed on the hips down due to an accident, and he was stripped of his family. That other kid who could control time wasn’t able to stop that poor boy’s time. Seeing his condition, he helped that poor boy. He saved him. Though he couldn’t stop the boy’s time, he turned back his time and managed to repair his legs to work. From then on, they stuck like glue. That other kid he helped? It turns out he also had a Gift. He could change into different Gifted as long as he manages to hold them. Which is why he becomes invulnerable to those Gifted he has touched.”

Bobby’s eyes widened when he heard what Kris stated. “You… were the other kid?”

“Yeah… I lost my family in a car accident. I lost my memory and even became paralyzed. I was begging in the streets, hoping to at least get food, but no one bothered to help. They kept giving me money, but what was I supposed to do with money when I couldn’t get anywhere. That kid… His name was Tao. He… He helped me. Until this day, I wonder why. I keep thinking maybe he wondered why he couldn’t stop my time… or it was all out of pity. But I never did pluck up the courage to ask why.” Kris said, chuckling but the smile on his face immediately faded.

“What happened after that?” Bobby asked.

“Well… The Dragon found us and took us in… clothed us, took care of us, fed us, and trained us. We were sent to missions, helping out Dragon to save other Gifted kids that needed a home. But… I guess our Gifts aren’t as infinite as we thought it was.” Kris suddenly said, earning a curious look from Bobby.

“What do you mean?”

“We found out that Tao’s Gift had limits to its usage. The more he used it, the more it ate his consciousness. At first, I thought he was just sleeping more than usual because he was tired, but Jiyong-hyung realized it was a side effect of using his Gift.” Kris explained.

“Hyung… Where is he now?” Bobby asked, realizing that the person Kris was talking about was nowhere in their base.

He saw the change in Kris facial expression. There was pain evident in the older’s face. He wanted to stop him, but his curiosity made him wait if Kris will continue.

“He’s…” Kris swallowed a lump in his throat as he recalled a memory that he burried within his min. “Dead.” Kris whispered, the word still stabbing at his heart.

Though Bobby wanted to know how, he couldn’t bear to ask the older to relive a memory that caused him so much pain.

“Bobby… the reason I’m telling you about this is because I lost myself when it happened. My Gift allows me to transform into a different Gifted as long as I hold them. It’s like absorbing them and initially becoming them. Though I may not have the same percentage of power as the original, I’m still fairly powerful. And when that happened, time stood still. I don’t remember much of it, but I know that everyone’s time stopped because of me. I don’t remember how long I stopped time, but it was enough to knock me out for a whole month.” Kris said. 

“That’s why… I want you to be open as you possibly can. Emotions are directly connected to our Gift. It’s the soul that breathes within our Gift. If we lose control of our emotions, everything else crumbles. Do you remember why you were triggered to release your Gift?”

“I—” Bobby was just about to answer when the two heard a loud explosion. Looking at each other, Kris immediately transformed into Kai before holding on to Bobby. They teleported to the source of the explosion only to see that Hanbin had lost control of his flames.

Blue flames surrounded him as red flames swallowed the surrounding area.

“Kris put up a barrier around him. His flames are going to reach the clinic!” Suho instructed while trying his best to protect himself and the younger ones with his water shield.

Kris did as he was told. Transforming into Luhan, he made a barrier around Hanbin to suppress his flames. Bobby, on the other hand, was frozen on his spot. The scene reminded him of what just happened to Jinhwan and Xiumin that he couldn’t help but feel his insides tremble. There it was again, the whisper of guilt seeping through his mind.

“Bobby! Snap out of it and secure the area with your Ice! Make sure to place a thick wall of ice on the clinic’s entryway. We can’t let that fire anywhere near Xiumin right now.” Suho instructed while he tried his best to take out the fire that was all over the place. “With his vulnerable state, fire is the last thing we want anywhere near him!”

“Hanbin! Snap out of it! What the hell happened?” Kris asked, looking at Suho.

“We don’t know. Chanyeol and Baekhyun were fighting, and the next thing we know, he was losing control, and then his Gift burst out.” Suho explained.

Not soon after his explanation, Chanyeol was rushing back to find them in a tight spot.

“What the hell happened?” Chanyeol asked, looking at Suho, who was shaking his head.

“I’m not sure. You guys fought, and after you walked away, he started losing control, and then… he burst.” Suho repeated.

Chanyeol looked at Kris, “Let me talk to him.”

“Chanyeol, his flames are different. Are you planning to sacrifice yourself like Xiumin did?” Kris asked. Though he didn’t admit it, it was getting harder to contain Hanbin’s Gift in the barrier he made.

“No. Trust me on this. We just need to talk.” Chanyeol said, blowing off steam before surrounding himself with his own flames.

Kris glanced at Suho, who was just as worried as he was. Thinking about it, if Chanyeol and Baekhyun were fighting moments ago, Kris wondered where Baekhyun was.

“Fine… I’m letting the barrier go, but… be careful.” Kris said.

As the barrier disappeared, Hanbin’s flames widened like a bomb that just exploded. However, they were all amazed to see Chanyeol’s flames eating Hanbin’s.

“Hanbin,” Chanyeol called out, earning the younger’s attention. The blue flames immediately surrounded Chanyeol. The two inside the flames talked freely, though everyone outside couldn’t hear them. “You told me you wouldn’t lose control of it.”

“I-I-I…” Hanbin mumbled, gibberish leaving his lips.

“Your flames directly reflect your emotions. Don’t let fear consume you, or your flames will consume everything around you too.” Chanyeol said.

“No… No… I… I’m not… I’m not a monster.” Hanbin mumbled; his eyes were unfocused while his body trembled. Chanyeol could see the flames getting darker. It was getting riskier the longer they stayed this way.

“Hanbin… Hear me out.” Chanyeol called out, but the younger was so consumed by his memories that he could barely think straight.

“Hanbin!”

They all turned their heads towards that familiar voice. Though they were all shocked to see Jinhwan standing near the gigantic flames surrounding Chanyeol and Hanbin, their first response was to pull him away.

“Jin… Jinani…“ Hanbin called out.

Chanyeol immediately raised his hand to stop the others from moving. Seeing Chanyeol’s gestures, everyone stopped their attempt to get to Jinhwan.

“Hey… What’s going on? Are you in a lot of pain?” Jinhwan asked, stepping closer to Hanbin.

The older Gifted flinched when Jinhwan stepped directly into Hanbin’s blue flames, worry evident in their faces. But they soon realized that upon stepping into the wall of flames, Jinhwan’s hair had turned into a bright lilac shade.

The youngest was heading towards Hanbin, arms reached out, and prepared to hug the Fire user.

“It’s okay… You don’t have to worry. I told you, didn’t I? You’ll never hurt me.” Jinhwan whispered, and Hanbin’s arms circled around the younger.

And though Jinhwan managed to earn Hanbin’s attention, the flames didn’t cease its destruction. The heavy tension around the hallway was enough to drown everyone’s thoughts. But they were still looking for a way to stop Hanbin’s flames from devouring everything.

Suho was continuously doing his best to protect the younger ones behind him with his water shield, Bobby was applying layer upon layer of Ice on the walls and doorway so the flames won’t reach into the clinic, and Kris was doing his best to control the flames with his barrier.

“Everything’s going to be okay, Bin… You’ll be okay…” Jinhwan whispered.

“Jinani…” Hanbin called out. Calming breaths left his lips as he concentrated on Jinhwan. His angel, smiling at him with complete trust. 

Just as his flames started to turn lighter, they heard Baekhyun screaming for Jinhwan.

“Jinhwan! Get out of there! You’ll get hurt!” Baekhyun shouted the moment he saw what was happening. 

He was late to arrive, so he didn’t see what was going on. His mind was flooded with worry that Jinhwan might get hurt that his first response is to take Jinhwan out of those gigantic flames.

Chanyeol’s head snapped towards his lover, he, out of everyone, should know that agitating a fire user could cause more destruction than help. He immediately glanced at Hanbin, hoping that he wouldn't lose focus again.

When Hanbin heard what Baekhyun said, his eyes turned into a dark shade of red while his hair matched the blue flames that surrounded them. His heart shook at the thought of hurting Jinhwan, but his flames interpreted it as Baekhyun being the reason.

His eyes shot up, looking at the light user. The moment Chanyeol noticed the change, he ran towards his lover, who was unaware of Hanbin’s change. The blue flames fueled itself towards Baekhyun’s direction, intending to devour the older Gifted.

But even before the flames could reach its target, Chanyeol pushed his lover aside and stood in his place. The blue flames surrounded him. Though Hanbin’s flames didn’t burn anything outside, Chanyeol felt an excruciating pain from inside.

Though he was coated with his own flames, it couldn’t save him. Not when he let fear consume his heart. The mere fact that Baekhyun was about to get swallowed in flames triggered Chanyeol’s emotions. The very fear that he pushed aside earlier was now happily clutching his heart. And for a fire Gifted, fear fueled their flames to devour its user.

His flames enraged outside while he suffered inside with another one’s flame. A vow he swore to himself that he would never let happen and yet…

“Hanbinie! No! Please don’t hurt Chanyeol-hyung…!” Jinhwan cried out, holding on to Hanbin’s cheeks.

The moment Jinhwan held Hanbin, the older’s eyes concentrated on Jinhwan.

“Hanbinie please… don’t hurt Chanyeol-hyung.” Jinhwan begged.

Hanbin’s eyes slowly changed its color from its fiery red to the normal brown that Jinhwan was familiar with. Jinhwan’s touch was calming, like a mother’s touch to a baby.

“W-what…? W-what happ—” Hanbin stuttered before noticing that blue flames surrounded them. He gasped when he saw his flames devouring someone, and he started trembling.

“Hanbinie… Look at me…” Jinhwan called out, the calmness of his voice pulled Hanbin’s attention back. As they stared into each other’s eyes, the flames slowly died down.

Hanbin listened to Jinhwan; the calming words that the younger said felt like plucked strings out of a harp. The flames surrounding Chanyeol ceased, but the flames around the two younger Gifted stayed.

Baekhyun was in too much shock to move. His lover was continuously coughing out blood, and he didn’t know what he should do. Kris, alongside Bobby, came to Chanyeol’s rescue. Kris, seeing that Jinhwan has taken control over Hanbin, turned himself into Xiumin to help Bobby surround Chanyeol with ice. Though they weren’t sure if this would help, it was the only thing they could think of.

Though the two surrounded Chanyeol with ice, it continued to melt with the flames that surrounded the fire user. But they persisted. They needed to cool down Chanyeol in some way.

Suho, who was giving out the orders earlier, looked at the two inside the flame before glancing at Baekhyun. He gritted his teeth. He needed to do something. But he wasn’t sure what else he could help with.

“Jinhwan! Are you able to calm Hanbin…?” Suho called out.

“Y-yes… I think so.” Jinhwan answered.

“Hanbin… you’re alright! You won’t hurt anyone! Look around you… We’re all fine!” Suho confidently lied. He thought that it was the only way Hanbin’s flame would stop devouring Chanyeol.

Hanbin, who heard Suho, looked around. Though the others stood behind Suho, they looked fine. Other than Chanyeol, who was surrounded by ice, everyone looked fine.

“I… didn’t… I didn’t kill anyone… did I?” Hanbin asked, his voice trembled.

“You didn’t. You’re alright, Hanbin… You’re alright.” Jinhwan answered.

Hanbin looked at Jinhwan. This time he noticed the tears that tainted the younger’s cheeks. He was sure that the reason that Jinhwan cried was because he feared Hanbin. He didn’t want that. He wanted to make sure that he had control over his powers and not hurt anyone, yet… this happened.

His heart started to waver again, but with Jinhwan’s hands on his cheek, he felt the younger caress his cheeks. “Hanbinie… You were scared, weren’t you? It’s alright to be scared… You’re human too.”

“But I hurt people… I hurt Chanyeol-hyung… and I scared you.” Hanbin said.

“I’ll never be scared of Hanbin. Because you won’t hurt me… You’ll never hurt me…” Jinhwan smiled.

Hanbin closed his eyes, feeling the younger’s hold on him. The calmness he felt was enough to diminish the flames that surrounded them. It was enough to make Suho sigh in relief.

But… it was too early to celebrate.

Chanyeol continued to cough out blood. The flames that consumed him moments ago didn’t go away. Seeing that Chanyeol was still in critical condition, Suho couldn’t help but feel panic rise from his gut. They all headed towards Chanyeol, hoping to help the older, but there was nothing they could do.

“It seems to be something internal.” Kris reasoned. He turned himself into Luhan, hoping to see what was going on, but the moment he turned, he fell on all fours as he groaned in pain.

Seeing this, Suho knew it was too much to handle. “Kris, turn back now!”

Kris did as he was told. Although with difficulty, he still turned back to himself before the pain consumed him. “H-he… his flame… his flame is burning him on the inside.”

“What?! W-why? Why is this happening to Chanyeol!?” Baekhyun, who finally pulled himself together, blasted. He was shaking, but he managed to crawl beside Chanyeol to assist his lover.

“I don’t know… But… there’s red and blue flames burning inside him.” Kris stated.

Baekhyun immediately shot Hanbin an accusing glare, but before he could say anything else, Suho covered his lips. Baekhyun looked at their leader, pain apparent in his eyes.

“Triggering Hanbin wouldn’t do us any good.”

The continuous coughing from Chanyeol stole Jinhwan’s attention. As Hanbin’s flames subsided, Jinhwan shifted his attention to the older consumed by the flames. He urged Hanbin to go to the older, hoping that he could at least help Chanyeol.

The moment he saw Chanyeol’s bloodied state, Jinhwan gasped in horror. There was nothing more frightening than seeing someone important to you dying. Jinhwan immediately went beside Chanyeol. Hope coursing through his body as he wished that the older Gifted could recover.

“Chanyeol-hyung… please… please don’t leave me too!” Jinhwan cried. A purple glow rippled from Jinhwan, and Chanyeol stopped coughing.

They were all glad that Jinhwan managed to help the older. Baekhyun immediately thanked Jinhwan, but he hugged his lover as he whispered words of apology.

Jinhwan, on the other hand, felt the world twist around him. He didn’t realize that he used up too much energy and that his body couldn’t hold it any longer. He fell back, but two arms caught him just in time. Bobby and Hanbin looked at each other, and with a nod, they both supported Jinhwan.

“There’s something wrong…” Donghyuk stated. The older Gifted looked at him, wondering what he meant.

“His breathing isn’t right, hyung. He still sounds like he’s in pain.” Donghyuk said, frowning.

The older Gifted looked at each other before Kris took the initiative. “Bobby, I need you to remove the ice wall you made on the clinic doorway.” Kris stated.

Bobby nodded. He looked at Hanbin before handing Jinhwan over. “Take care of Jinani for me.”

Hanbin looked surprised, but he nodded, nonetheless. He knew what Bobby meant when he asked for help. He finally received Bobby’s recognition.

Bobby stood up, facing the wall of ice to melt it. Kris carried Chanyeol into the clinic. Upon entry, he saw Lay and Luhan waiting by the entrance. The two looked on guard, but when Lay saw Chanyeol, he immediately guided Kris towards a bed. Luhan, on the other hand, covered his mouth with his hand. He was gagging when he saw Chanyeol’s condition.

“What’s wrong with him, hyung? Please… tell me.” Baekhyun cried, holding his best friend’s arm.

“Baek… what did you do?” Luhan asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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